appeare vnto vs and contrariwise the more pure and thinne it is the brighter and more shining it will shew it selfe vnto vs. Nowe for this matter wee must call to minde what wee heard concerning the generation of spirites both Vitall and Animall in those discourses of the nature and office of the heart And as they are thinne vapours engendered of blood concocted and sette on fire through the vertue of the heart that they might bee as it were little flames hauing diuers actions in diuers members so according to the puritie and impuritie of the blood in the composition of the bodie wee are to iudge of the spirites that proceede from them And albeeit they haue all one and the same fountaine namely the heart in which they are bredde neuerthelesse they change according to those places and members wherein they woorke and being so changed they haue diuers and seuerall actions Wee vnderstand then by the Vitall spirite a little flame bredde and borne in the heart of the purest blood whose office is to carie naturall heate to the other members and to giue them vertue and strength to put in practise those actions and offices which they exercise by the same heat It hath beene tolde vs also before that the arteries serue to carie this vitall spirite to all the members But wee are farther to learne that when the vitall spirites bredde in the heart are in part transported to the braine others are engendered of them which are called Animall spirites in that sence in which wee called those Animall faculties and powers from whence the Soule deriueth her vessels and instrumentes in the brayne For after the spirites sent by the heart are come thither they are made more cleane and bright through the vertue of the braine and agreeable to the temperament thereof and then beeing infused into the brayne by meanes of the sinewes they are insteade of a light whereby the actions of the sences are incited and stirred vp as also those motions which are from place to place And as wee haue hearde that a good temperature of the blood and of other humours doeth much helpe forwarde and profite the manners and conditions of men the same may bee saide of the heart and of the spirites proceeding from the same For when the heart is in good temper so that it is not troubled either with anger or sadnesse or any other euill affection it is manifest that the spirites are a great deale the better in the braine Nowe let vs consider the woonderfull woorke of God wrought in man by meanes of the Vitall and Animall spirites For what are the chiefe actions effected in him Are they not the preseruation of life nourishment and generation and then sense and motion with cogitation and the affections of the heart And what were all these thinges without spirites Hence it commeth that in the holy Scriptures the heart is taken for the fountaine not onely of life but also of all the actions of men as it hath beene alreadie declared vnto vs. And for this cause also some haue sayde that these spirites and little Vitall and Animall flames were the soule it selfe or the immediate instrument thereof that is to say the verie next whereby it woorketh immediately so that there is none betwixt them twayne But the latter is more certaine and more agreeable to trueth then the former For if the soule were nothing else but the Vitall and Animall spirites it shoulde fayle and perish with them as the bodily life doeth and so it shoulde not bee immortall But seeing they are but the instruments thereof as the humours of the bodie are and namely the blood from which they proceede the soule can well bee without them albeeit they cannot bee without it and although it cannot without them perfourme the woorkes it doeth with and by them And forasmuch as God hath giuen them to bee as it were a light it is certaine that the light of these surmounteth the light of the Sunne Moone or starres and that all these lights haue great agreement one with another But it is yet a farre more woonderfull woorke of GOD when not onelie the soule vseth these instrumentes for the life of man but also when the celestiall spirite ioyneth it selfe vnto them vsing them in the elect and making them more cleere by his heauenly light that the knowledge of God might bee more euident that their assuraunce and trust in him might bee more firme and that all the motions of his children might bee kindeled the more towardes him So likewise the euill spirite knoweth well howe to take occasion by the badde temperature of the humors to abuse men as wee haue alreadie declared thereby to set forwarde their ruine when hee possesseth the heart troubleth and poysoneth the spirites in that and in the brayne Whereupon hee attempteth to hinder reason and iudgement to bring men to furie and madnesse and to thrust forwarde their heart and their other members to committe foule and execrable factes Whereof wee haue examples in the furie of Saul and in his death in the death of Achitophel of Iudas and of manie others whome hee hath brought to slaye themselues as likewise in manie other horrible factes dayly committed by men Therefore it is very requisite that wee shoulde diligently consider our nature and bee carefull to gouerne and guide it well Wee are to knowe that our spirites are the habitations of the holy spirite and therefore wee are to pray to God through his sonne Christ Iesus to repell and keepe backe euill spirites farre from vs and to inspire his diuine and celestiall spirite into our spirites heartes and mindes that it may guide and gouerne them And this agreeth verie fitly with that prayer which wee hearde alreadie vttered by Saint Paul touching the entire sanctification of the whole man whome hee diuided into spirite soule and bodie So that if wee haue throughly tasted of the former discourses as well concerning the nature of the bodie as of the soule wee may perceiue wherefore the Apostle hath thus diuided the whole man For first wee cannot doubt but that the soule beeing the principall Woorker is such a substaunce and nature as dwelleth in a bodie apt and meete to receiue life in I speake this purposely because all sortes of bodies are not capable of soule and life and they that are capable are not yet capable of euerie kinde of soule and life but onelie of such as are agreeable to their nature hauing those instrumentes in themselues which may bee vsed by them according to their nature Wherefore the soule of man must of necessitie haue another bodie with other instruments and of another nature then the soule of beastesmay haue and the soule of beastes another then the soule of plantes according as euerie one of them differeth from other both in nature and offices But of what nature soeuer eyther the soule or the bodie is the soule hath this
often into a glasse and to beholde themselues therein to this intent that he which thought himselfe beautifull and faire might take occasion thereby to auoyde all kinde of deformitie in maners and conuersation whereby that beautie of his woulde be greatly blemished and that whosoeuer perceiued by the glasse any defect of comelinesse in his countenance might labour so much the more seriously by the helpe of vertue and inward graces of the mind to recompence the outward wants imperfections of his body In which respect this Booke may most fitly be resembled to a glasse as that which affoordeth vnto vs both these vses in farre more excellent maner then can be performed by any looking glasse how rare and surpassing soeuer it be For euen the best of that kind doth represent vnto our eyes only so much of the surface of our own bodies as is directly before it but as for the hinder parts we take no view of them by a glasse much lesse is it able to giue vs a sight of the internall members of our bodies wherby we may attaine to any profitable knowledge of them But if wee take a diligent view of this booke and with the eies both of body and mind looke intentiuely vpon the same it will in most euident maner represent vnto vs not only the outward members of maÌ„s body both before and behind on euery side but euen the most hidden and inward parts thereof which otherwise before life haue left the body cannot possibly be seene of any man Here may you behold all the bones as it were the frame and timberworke of mans body yea the very foundation vpon which all the residue of the building is laide Heere may you see the exquisite frame and composition of the head as it were the vpper lodging of this house the seuerall ventricles of the braine as so many sundrie chambers for the intertainement of the Animal spirits the singuler workmanshippe of the eyes as of the lights and windowes appertaining to this pallace of mans body the matter and fourme of the humors in the eyes as it were the christall glasse set in the windowes together with the eye-liddes as casemeÌ„ts to opeÌ„ shut to receiue in or keepe out the light as need requireth besides the eyebrowes as penthouses to defend those windowes from the violence of stormy weather What should I speake of the eares as of high watch-towres whereby warning is giuen to the internal senses so often as any aduersary noyse giueth notice of enemies approching to annoy this goodly castle The mouth is it not as the doore that receiueth in all kind of prouision meete for the reparation and maintenance of this great building as occasion serueth It is a world to thinke what excellent workmanshippe appeareth in the voyce tongue of man and what singuler vses it hath very requisite for the perfection of this piece of worke Now if we shall descend and enter into the contemplation of the breast as of the middle story of this building consider with what goodly houshold stuffe those roomes are adorned who is able either with tongue to vtter or with heart to coÌ„ceiue the rare deuises the pretious Iewels the singular art there to be fouÌ„d What an exceeding faire roome is the dining chamber of the heart the receptacle of the wil affections the shop wherein the vital spirits are wrought and the forge from whence is deriued that fire and heate which warmeth the whole house And least this fire should breake forth into such a flame as might bring perill of burning to this goodly building the chamber of the heart is dayly continually refreshed with coole blastes proceeding from the lungs as from an outward roome that is built round about a great part thereof Here also is to be seenethe Artery which as a liuely conduite carieth forth continually most christall streams of vital spirits into euery roome and office of the house Betwixt this second story and the third is laid the Midriffe as a flore that maketh a separation betweene the instruments of the vitall parts being the implements of that middle roome and the naturall instruments of the neather story which serue both for the vpholding maintenance of the whole building and also conteineth in it matter for the erecting of a new frame which is to stand after the former is come to his ful period In this third story or partition is to be seene the stomacke which being as it were the kitchin of the body receiueth in at the doore of the mouth al such meats drinks as are requisite for the keeping of it in sufficient reparations for the defence of it against two mighty enemies Hunger and Thirst who by continuall vndermining can of the same laâ— or to lay it euen with the ground And because nothing can be prepared in the kitchin without heate the maintenaÌ„ce therof besides the natural heat of the stomack it is coÌ„passed on the right side with the liuer on the left with the spleene behind with the muscles of the chinebone before with the kal aboue it hath the hart midriffe and within it are sundry vital spirits from al which as froÌ„ so many seueral fires it receiueth heat for the better dressing and concocting of that which is conueyed into it Neither are the gutters sinks necessarily belonging to euery house waÌ„ting to the perfection of this beautifull building of mans body as may appeare by the guttes and other partes of baser seruice without which it is not possible that this frame should long continue Now besides the singular delight and pleasure which this naturall knowledge of our owne bodies yeeldeth vnto our minds the profite commodity that issueth here from is great manifold For first in regard of our selues if we were throughly acquainted with the Anatomy of our bodies with the substance and situation with the forme and qualities with the vses and offices of euery part and member of the same it is out of all question that by the knowledge therof we might both preuent many diseases and infirmities which through want thereof would sease vpon vs and being ouertaken with any might recouer our selues more sâ—eedly by a wise and skilfull cariage of our selues according to the same Neither is it layd vpon euery one to haue so much skill as is requisite for him that maketh profession of that art towards all men but onely so farre forth as may serue for the pâ—eseruation of his owne health eyther in imploying the talent of his priuate knowledge or in yeelding himselfe more readily vnto the wise direction of the skilfull Physicion Secondly as Salomon sendeth vs to the industrious nature of the Pismire to learne diligence and forecast in our calling so the Apostle taketh occasion by the varietie of members in one body to reprehend two sorts of people in the Church of Corinth both such as were caried away with enuy towards their superiours themselues
being indued with meaner gifts and those also who being furnished with more excellent ornaments of Gods spirite were puffed vp with pride in themselues and with disdyne towards others of fewer graces And this being the second vse that ariseth from this naturall knowledge of our bodies offreth it selfe in most plentifull manner to be obserued by vs in euery part and member of the same What a notable lesson of good neighbourhood are we taught by the view contemplation of mans face For as many seueral members of different vses are so artificially knit and linked together in one face that not one of them is any impediment or hinderance vnto another in the execution of his office so we are instructed thereby how to cary our selues towardes our neighbours euery one to containe himselfe within the limits of his seuerall calling not to incroch one vpon another as the maner of a great many is that are not contented with their owne estate Againe in the second story of this frame when wee consider the lungs which are the bellowes of the voyce are placed so neere the heart that they compasse it rounde about are not all men thereby admonished that their speach is but the interpreter of the heart the messenger therof that the mouth must like a good seruant attend vpon the heart vtter nothing but that which it receiueth first froÌ„ the same that no man ought to imitate the example of Hippolytus in Euripides who being admonished of his Nurse to remember his Oath made her this mishapen answere 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The tongue hath sworne but the mind is vnsworne As many hollow-hearted subiects of late dayes behaued themselues towads her Maiestie hauing recâ—iued a dispensation so to doe from Pope Gregorie the thirteenth whose goodly posie was thus set down in certaine tokens sent to all such as were to be reconciled vnto him Fili mi da mihi cor sufficit My sonne giue me thy heart and iâ— sufficeth Which is all one as if he had said sweare and forsweare thy self if thou wilt say thou art a good subiect go to the church do whatsoeuer is commanded thee so thou let me haue thy heart it skilleth not who haue thy tâ—â—g thy hande all the rest of thy body Elihu being of another spirit was better instructed in the knowlege of this neare coniunction which naturally ought to be betwene the heart and the tongue and therefore speaking to his friend Iob he telleth him that his words should be in the vprightnesse of his heart Whereas they that follow not this course of nature but violently draw their tongue to vtter that which is far disagreeing from the meaning of the heart are branded for the same by the kingly Prophet Dauid with this mark of infamy that they are men of two harts or of a double heart which is monstrous in nature The like instruction to this we are taught in that the tongue is placed so neere vnder the braine which is the seate of the mind vnderstanding part of man as it were at the feet of her schoolemaster to the intent it should not speake vnaduisedly and handouer head as we vse to say but with great deliberation both in regard of the matter it self to be deliuered by speech and also of the circumstances of time place and persons which are not to be neglected For looke how preposterous it is to set the 〈◊〉 before the horse so is it for the tongue to run before the wit and to vtter it knoweth not wel what hauing receiued no direction from the same And therfore Salomon putting the name of heart for the minde and vnderstanding part of man saith that a righteous mans heart meditateth or pondereth what it shal answer that the heart of the wise guideth his mouth prudently Neither is it slightly to be passedouer that euery one hauing two eies that serue for seeing two eares for hearing two nostrils for smelling two feet for going hath yet but one soft fleshy tongue for sundry vses that tied fast with strings compassed about with gums teeth and lips as with a double wall to teach men thereby that the tongue being a very vnruly member had neede to be brideled hemmed in on euery side least it breake forth into a world of wickednes and breed destruction to the whole body Now if we look into the middle story of this building there wee shall see that although the heart be the fountaine of life and the root of al the vital spirits that are dispersed into euery part and member of the body yet it cannot want either the coole refreshing it hath from the lungs or the veine-pipâ—s proceeding from the liuer or the moouing strings it hath from the sinews or the necessary defence of the ribbes and bones which as strong bulwarks and rampires fence it in on euery side Euen so fareth it with the great and mighty men of this worlde who although in regarde of their power and authoritie ouer others they seeme to haue their liues and liuelihoodes at their becke and commaundement yet they are so farre from being able of themselues to maintaine their honours and high places without the necessary aide of the inferiour sort as that without them they shoulde want wherewith to vpholde their owne liues But this appeareth yet more euident in the lower story of this frame where the guttes and entrailes of the body as it were the sinks of an house haue their abiding For although in regard of their vse they may seeme to be the basest and most abiect partes of the body yet if we consider the necessitie of them we shall see that a man may better spare a principall member of his body then the least gut that is in his belly Euen so fareth it with the politike body of a coÌ„mon wealth in which the base Artisan wil sooner be missed oftentimes then he that carrieth a greaterport and is aduanced to a higher roome and office in the same A third vse that may be made of this booke as it were of a christal glasse worthy the looking into is that singular delight pleasure which may be reaped by the view and consideration of the harmony betwene this terrestriall frame the celestiall habitation of the heauens when they are compared together And as that famous sentence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Know thy selfe is reported of many to haue descended from the heauens so surely it wil be no small furtherance to a man whereby hee may attaine to a better knowledge of himselfe if hee seriously obserue what a great agreement there is betwene him and the heauens whereunto the very situation of his countenaunce lift vp towardes heauen doeth as it were leade him by the hand First therefore if wee consider the originall of them both wee finde in holy Writ that as God is saide to haue made the heauens in the beginning so also it is
there related that not long after he made man after his owne image and committed vnto him the soueraigntie ouer the earth and ouer all liuing and moouing creatures vnder the cope of heauen Neither can it bee truely said that howsoeuer the Lord himselfe formed the first man and breathed in his face the breath of life yet since that first creation hee hath not intermedled at all with the continual propagation of mankinde but hath surrendered all his working power into the handes of nature by whose powerfull operation the matter of mens bodies is brought to this glorious perfection which we see it hath when it first appeareth in the worlde For this is to speake after the manner of meere naturall men that haue not as yet learned the language of Canaan as is plaine if wee call to minde what the kingly Prophet saieth vnto the Lorde that it was hee that possessed his reines and that couered him in his mothers wombe Which also is more manifestly taught by that holy man Iob who confidently affirmeth that it was the Lorde who had powred him out as milke and turned him to cruddes like cheese that he had clothed him with skinne and flesh and ioyned him together with bones and sinewes Wherefore as it was the eternall God who first turned the body of the heauens into that roundnes gathered the light into the bodies of the celestiall lamps fixed the starres in the firmament endued ech planet with his seuerall motion and clothed the inferior world with this glorious circumference so the same God at the first planted Adam as the roote of mankind and euer since hath caused his whole race euery seuerall person as so many branches to issue and grow out of his loynes He turned the eies into that roundnesse hee planted the eares as watch-towers in the vpper part of the head he placed the tongue fastned the teeth stretched out the sinewes hee watred the veines with blood gaue maessines to the bones and clothed the flesh with a fine skin as with a garment he seuered the fingers and toes caused the feete to walke and the hands to gripe Hee and none but he giueth sight to the eies hearing to the eares taste to the tongue smelling to the nostrilles and feeling to the fingers Who but hee hath endued the lungs with breathing the heart with the spirits of life the stomacke with concoction the liuer with the making of blood and womens breastes with the making of milke Who hath fashioned the instruments of hearing in the head like to a hammer and an anuile the heart in the body like a pyramide and made the spleene in substance like a spunge Who hath couered the head with haire for comelines and boared the skin through with infinit pores for euacuation In a word who hath giuen beauty to the whole body and to each member his seueral operation What father what mother what workman hath wrought these things but the onely wise and immortall God But to proceede as the sunne moone and celestial starres and planets haue a double motion the one common with the whole body of the heauens the other proper and peculiar according to the nature of euery seuerall starre so haue the partes of mans body two motions whereof the one dependeth of the motion of the whole body and is therefore vniuersall and the other is particular according to the inset nature and disposition of each seuerall member And to descend to a more speciall comparison of one particular thing with an other how doth the diuerse operations of the animal spirite whose seate is in the braine concurre with the different workings of the sunne in the firmament vpon the infâ—riour bodies here below vpon the face of the earth We see that through the selfe-same reflexion of the sun-beames the clay is hardned and the wax made soft that the light of the sun is comfortable to some eies whereas other become worse through the brightnes of the same that it worketh otherwise vpon a thicke body then vpon a thin vpon a hard then vpon a soft vpon a plant then vpon a stone vpon the earth then vpon the water So the Animal spirit being distributed into sundry partr and members of the body worketh diuersly in each of them according to the diuerse nature composition and temperament of euery one For being imparted to the eyes by the opticke sinewes it giueth sight to the eares by certaine passages it woorketh hearing to the tongue by small Nerues it breedeth tasting in a worde being dispersed into the muscles and skinne by meanes of certaine sinowie threedes concurring in manner of a net it infuseth feeling throughout the whole body And as it often falleth out that wee are depriued of the heate and light of the sunne when either some thicke cloude or the bodie of the Moone or some such thing is interposed and put betweene vs and the same so wee quickely see and feele the want of the Animall spirite when any thicke clammie humour or winde or melancholicke fumes or any such impediment stoppe the passages and hinder the woorking thereof as is to be seene in them that are taken with the palsie apoplexie madnesse numnesse and such like It is no lesse delectable then straunge to consider in howe many thinges the Sunne as it were the heart of the heauens agreeth with the heart of man which may not vnfittely bee called the sunne of the body For as the Sunne being the chiefest of the Planets occupieth the middle place among those wandering starres hauing the rest as his guarde both aboue and beneath him to employ as neede requireth both for their owne safetie and the good of the inferiour worlde so the heart being the chiefest member of the body is seated in the middle storie of the same hauing the other partes both aboue and beneath it and on euery side employing them according to their seuerall offices for the vpholding and preseruation of the whole frame And as the Sunne is the storehouse of that celestiall heate which together with a diuine and quickening spirite working in the bowelles of the earth maketh it a fruitfull Mother and tender Nurse for the bringing foorth and preseruation of all thinges so the heart is the harth from whence proceedeth all that inset and natiue heate which being conueyed with the vitall spirite into euery member of the bodie maketh them liuely and powerfull to perfourme those dueties that are enioyned them Concerning the motion of the heart as it agreeth with the Sunne in this that they both haue a double motion so in that the heaâ— being the first that receiueth life and motion is the Originall of all motion in the body it resembleth the whole heauens of which dependeth all naturall motions of inferiour bodies whatsoeuer Againe the two eies in the head represent the two chiefe lights in the firmament And as there are both simple stars in the heauens namely the Sunne Moone Saturne Iupitâ—r Mercurie with the
nature and composition of the heart and of the midriffe of the tunicles or skinnie couerings of the breast and of the Pericardion or Cawle about the heart of the motion office and vse of the lungs of the heart and of the arteryes Chap. 37. 224 Of the substance situation and counterpoize of the heart of the nature and vse of the vitall spirite and of the forge vessels and instruments thereof of the sundry doores and pipes of the heart and of their vses Chap. 38. 229 Of the second motion of the heart which belongeth to the affections of the soule and of those that goe before or follow after iudgement of the agreement that is betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule Chap. 39. 233 Of the health and diseases of the soule of the agreement betweene corporall and spiritual physicke how necessarie the knowledge of the nature of the body and of the soule is for euery one Chap. 40. The sixt dayes worke 237 OF foure things to bee considered in the will and in the power of desiring in the soule and first of natural inclinations of selfe loue and the vnrulinesse thereof Chap. 41. 241 Of the habite of the soule in the matter of the affections and of what force it is of the causes why the affections are giuen to the soule with the vse of them of the fountaine of vertues and vices Chap. 42 246 That according to the disposition of the iudgement the affections are more or lesse moderate or immoderate of the cause of all the motions of the soule and heart of the variety of affections of the generation nature and kindes of them Chap. 43. 250 That ioy or griefe are alwayes ioyned to the affections and what ioy and griefe are properly Chap. 44. 255 Of the causes why God hath placed these affections of ioy and sorrow in the heart of true and false ioy and of good and bad hope Chap. 45. 260 Of feare and of the nature and effects thereof toward the body the mind and the soule and how it troubleth them of the true harnesse and armour against feare Chap. 46. 265 Of the delight and pleasure that followeth euery ioy and of the moderation that is required therein of diuers degrees of pleasures and how men abuse them especially those pleasures which are receiued by the corporal senses Chap. 47. 270 Of the comparison of pleasures receiued by the internall senses and how men descend by degrees from the best to the basest pleasures of the difference betweene the vse of spirituall delights and corporall and how the one chase the other Chap. 48. The seuenth dayes worke 276 OF the affections of loue of the nature kinds and obiect of it of the beginning of friendship of the vertue and force of alluring that is in likenesse and in beauty of the agreement that is betweene beauty and goodnesse Chap. 49. 281 Of other causes why beauty procureth loue and of diuers degrees and kinds of beauty how it is the nature of loue alwayes to vnite an what other effects it hath how loue descendeth and ascendeth not what power it hath to allure and breed loue Chap. 50. 286 Of desire and coueting and of the kinds of it of the infinitenesse of mens desires and what Good is able to satisfie and content it of the difference betweene desire and loue and of the vtmost limit and end of loue Chap. 51. 291 Of the good things that are in true loue of the diuers valuations of loue and of the benefits which it procureth what knowledge is requisite to allure loue and how one loue groweth by another of the friendshippe that may bee both betweene the good and the badde Chap. 52. 297 Of fauour reuerence and of honour of their nature and effects of those outward signes whereby they shewe themselues of pity and compassion and howe agreeable it is to the nature of man Chap. 53. 302 Of offence in the heart and soule of the degrees of offence and of the good and euill that may be in this affection of contempt that is bredde of it and of mockery which followeth contempt Chap. 54. 307 Of anger and of the vehemency and violency thereof of the difference that is betweene anger and rancor of the affection of reuenge that accompanieth them of the motions of the heart in anger with the effectes thereof wherefore this affection is giuen to man and to what vse it may serue him Chap. 55. 313 Of hatred and of the nature and effects thereof of a good kind of hatred and of the remedy to cure the euill hatred of enuie and of the kindes and effects thereof of the difference betweene good and euill enuy Chap. 56. The eight dayes worke 319 OF iealousie and of the kindes thereof how it may bee eyther a vice or a vertue howe true zeale true iealousie and indignation proceede of loue of their natures and why these affections are giuen to man Chap. 57. 324 Of reuenge cruelty and rage and what agreement there is among them what shame and blushing is and why God hath placed these affections in man and of the good and euill that is in them Chap. 58. 330 Of pride with the consideration thereof aswell in nature intire as corrupted of the orginall thereof and of such as are most inclined thereunto what vices accompany it how great a poison it is and what remedy there is for it Chap. 59. 335 Of the naturall powers of the soule and what sundry vertues they haue in the nourishment of the body of their order and offices of their agreement and necessary vse where the vegetatiue soule is placed in the body and what vertue it hath to augment the same Chap. 60. 341 What instruments the soule vseth in the body about the naturall works of nourishing and augmenting of the ventricle of stomacke and of the figure orifices and filamentes it hath of the stomacke and of what substance and nature it is of the causes of hunger and of appetite of the inferior orifice Chap. 61. 347 Of the intalles and bowels and of their names and offices of the nature of the three smaller guttes and of the other three that are greater of the instructions which wee may learne by these things Chap. 62. 353 Of the Mesentery and Mesareon of the Meseraicall veines of the Pancreas or sweete bread and of their nature and office of the liuer and of his nature and office of the rootes bodies branches of the veines of their names and vses and of the similitude betweene them and the arteries Chap. 63. 358 Of the blood and of other humours in the body of their diuersity and nature and of the agreement they haue with the elementes of the similitude that is betwixt the great garden of this great worlde and that of the little worlde touching the nourishment of things contayned and preserued in them Chap. 64. The ninth dayes worke 363 OF the vapours that ascend vp to the braine
themselues vnder the vale thereof to the end that men should not take theÌ„ for such as they are indeed as also that they might keepe company with the best But in their hearts amongst their companions they mocke laugh at al religion at al feare of God whatsoeuer els is taught vs by his word touching any other life theÌ„ this wherin ioy is prepared for the good and torments for the wicked Nowe if there were nothing els to doe but to conuince such men of errour lying the matter were easie for they cary all their witnesses and their condemnatioÌ„ with them but they are not so easily confounded For a man is conuinced when he is constrained to acknowledge in his conscieÌ„ce that he hath no reason wherby he is able to withstand gainsay that trueth which is shewed vnto him which condemneth him But if he be obstinate head-strong wickedly giuen fâ—oward he will neuer leaue kicking against the pricke but perseuere in his headinâ—sse and obstinacie in his maliciousnes and peruersenes For wheÌ„ reason faileth him he armeth himselfe with impudencie like to a bold murtherer or to a shamelesse harlot that will blush at nothing Therefore Chrysostome said not without reason that heretiks may wel be conuinced but not confounded For they do but wipe their mouth as Salomon speaketh of an harlot which presently after boasteth that she is an honest woman But howsoeuer wicked men striue to blindfold their vnderstanding to harden their heart against the iudgement of God yet it is neuer propounded vnto them but will they nill they they feele themselues pricked and pressed with some sence thereof True it is that it is not so with them as the childreÌ„ of God are touched as they of whom it is written that after they had heard the preaching of Saint Peter they were pricked in their hearts whereby they were led to true repentance because they had bin touched to the quicke by the word But it is said of the reprobate and of them that are hardened of which sort are all Atheists that God hath giuen them a pricking spirite by reason of their bitter hâ—â—â—t which causeth them alwaies to increase in bitternesse to fret and chafe against God when they feele themselues pressed by his word and by his iudgement Therefore I am of opinion my companions that for this cause and for those reason which ASER recited vnto vs we are now to call to memory all the testimonies that we can bring of God of his prouidence of his iudgement and of the immortalitie of mens soules by the consideration of the nature of man and of his parts the body and soule expecting when sometime hereafter God shall giue vs grace to contemplate the selfe same things in euery nature and in all this great visible world For no doubt but such kind of contemplation will furnish vs sufficiently with arguments to conuince all Epicures and Atheists to constraine them to acknowledge in their conscience a diuine iustice and an eternall life The heauens saieth the Prophet declare the glory of God the firmament sheweth the worke of his hands This hie ornament this firmament so cleare and face of heauen so sumptuous to behold is a thing full of greatnesse Therein we may behold the Master builder thereof clothed with the whole frame as with a garment which is a sure testimonie of his power and vertue He who cannot fall within the compas of mans grosse sences maketh himselfe as it were visible in his terrible workes This worlde is vnto vs a learned schoole wherein the praise of God doth preach it selfe It is a goodly large rich shop wherein this soueraigne and most excellent workman layeth open all his works to this end that he might be knowen by them It is a temple wherein there is no creature so little but it is as it were a similitude and resemblance of the creator thereof to shew and manifest him vnto vs. In a word it is a Theatre where the diuine essence his iustice his prouidence his loue his wisedome haue their working by a wonderfull vertue in euery creature euen from the hiest heauen vnto the center of the earth Aske the beasts saith Iob and they shall teach thee and the foules of the heauen and they shal tel thee or speake to the earth and it shall shew thee or the fishes of the sea and they shall declare vnto thee Who is ignorant of all these but that the hand of the Lorde hath made these But truly there shineth in man more then in all other creatures a beame of the diuinity a proportionable image and similitude of his nature in that God hath framed him of an immortal soule capable of vnderstanding of reason to make him partaker of his eternal glory and felicity O Lord saith the Psalmist who marueilous is thy name in all the wolde What is man that thou art mindfull of him and the sonne of man that thou visitest him Thou hast made him a litle lower then God and crowned him with glory and worship Thou hast made him to haue dominion in the works of thine hands thâ—â— hast put all things vnder his feete But withall as God hath more expresly created man after his owne image then any other visible nature and therefore more excellent then the heauens or the earth or any thing contayned in them so he hath singulerly bound him to know and to honour him in which thing he hath placed his soueraigne Good But man being exalted by God to that honour that he might attaine to so great felicitie could not conceiue or acknowledge it which is the cause that we see so many who following the corruption of mans nature are not onely become like to brute beastes but much more vnthankefull yea farre more forgetfull miserable then they are The Oxe knoweth his owner and the Asse his masters crib but man will not know God his creator of whome he holdeth body soule and goods What a horrible shame is it that the Oxe the Asse which are such dull beasts should giue greater honor and obedience to man of whom they receiue their food then man doth to God of whom he hath and dayly doth receiue so many benefits Let vs make hast therefore my companions to go to the schoole of nature For if we profite well therein I doubt not but we shall easily come to the knowledge of the creator thereof and of the chiefe end of our being ARAM. All things created haue their proper motion which they follow according to that loue that euery one of them beareth to his natural disposition For the heauens continue alwayes constant in their naturall motions And as the fire and ayre naturally loue to be aboue and therefore drawe thitherward without ceasing so the water and earth loue to keepe below so that they alwayes bend that wayes So that none of the elements can find any
insensible as the bones gristles are neither can they giue any motion or sense as the sinewes can but serue only for baÌ„ds to tie the bones one to another to knit the other members vnto them But the sinews which proceede either from the braine or from the marrow of the backe bone whose originall is from the braine are of a teÌ„der soft white substance of that nature that they haue al sense which they impart to al the sinewy parts of the body And of theÌ„ also some giue both sense motion together Therfore their substance is not so dry nor so hard as that of the ligaments neyther yet is it so soft tender as is the substaÌ„ce of the flâ—sh or of the kernels or of the skinnes of such other like parts wherof we wil speake hereafter As for the pannicles cords or filaments which are litle long threeds slender white solide strong we may comprehend them vnder the name of sinews ligaments because they take part of both natures For some of them haue sense with the sinewes others haue none with the ligaments The office of the pannicles which are litle skins made of sinews ligaments is to defend to knit together the members to impart to many of them sense as to the liuer the heart the lungs the splene the kidneis And as for the filaments they serue the body some to draw nourishment others to retaine and keep that which is meete to nourish the body and some to driue forward and to cast forth those excrements and superfluities which help not to nourish it but are only a burthen and griefe vnto it The veines are thinne and slender pipes carying the thicker blood wherewith the body is nourished and they haue their beginning from the liuer For in that the hollow veine is greater and larger then the rest and out of that all the other veines extend themselues into all the body as it were branches proceeding from the body of a tree Herein as we will do in all our discourse we follow the common opinion approued of the late learned Philosophers Physicions Anatomists For Aristotle wrote that the heart was the original of the veins But Hippocrates taught otherwise whom Galen followed confuting Aristotles opinion As for the Arteries or pulses they are pipes that proceed froÌ„ the heart For in that is the great artery planted which is the stock of al the rest which serue to cary the vital spirits throghout the body they are couered with litle skins that are strong thick to keep the spirits from breathing out for the same cause they haue their passages more streight So that they haue two skinnes or couerings whereof that which is vnderneath is fiue times thiâ—ker then the skinne of a veine To conclude the Arteries and veines are ioyned together to the ende that the vitall spirites might draw and receiue from the veines conuenient matter for their nourishment as also that by their heat they might warme the blood that is within them For there are certaine mouthes in them both for this mutuall communication both that the spirit might draw his nourishment from the veines as flame fetcheth the preseruation of his light from the lampe and also that the veines might receiue spirit and heat from the arteries As for the flesh it is a substance of blood which is then made when the thickest part of it is as it were congeled and with that all the members of the body are clothed outwardly Wee must speake more largely of the vses and properties of all these simple partes which wee haue here laid open in few wordes In the meane time in this litle that hath bin discoursed wee see a maruailous prouidence of God who hath disposed and tempered the matter of the body in such wise that hee made it so apt to effect that worke which hee purposed that by proportions and mixtures so well contriued from one degree to another as he hath done in the elements to the end that all the partes of the body might the better be preserued one by an other And although mens bodies are compounded of earth and of the other elements as we haue already touched yet God sheweth himselfe very wonâ—e full in this whole worke and matter of man For as he turneth the earth into diuers natures so that of one peece hee maketh gold of another siluer of this brasse iron and other metâ—alles of that mineralles of another pretious stones of sundâ—y sortes which are as it were â—he bones of the earth besides a great many other things of diuers kinds which were infinite to rehearse so of one selfe same matter appointed for the composition of the body hee maketh vaâ—iety of workes that 〈◊〉 may be framed and furnished in al respects For we see what difference there is betweene the bones which partes are most earthy and so consequently driest hardest and coldest because of al other partes they dâ—aw nearest to the nature of the earth Then the gristles obtaine the second degree next after the bones for agreement of nature as that which is in then iddest betweene the bones and the ligaments as the ligaments are of a middle nature betweene the gristles and the filaments and the filaments betweene the ligaments and the sinewes and so of the rest Therefore as God the great workmaster of nature hath framed all the partes of mans body of matter taken from all the elements so also hee hath tempered his matter according to the worke he meant to make and to that office which it pleased him to appoint vnto euery part and member of the body So that the matter of some partes holdeth more of the earth of other partes it hath more water or aire or fire or else is more or lesse mingled of all together Whereby it appeareth how aptly this workemaster can apply himselfe vnto his worke Wee haue also another notable testimony of his prouidence in that hee hath made the ligaments so strong and firme according to the necessitie of their office hauing ordained them to knit the bones in their ioynts and to bee as it were bands cords to tie and conioyne them together euen as the thongs of harnesse keepe the parts thereof bound and tied one to another We may say as much of the filaments but chiefly of the sinewes which in their places serue for bands to the body And here wee haue also to note that because God hath created them to giue both motion and sense to the body therefore hee hath planted their roote partely in the braine partly in the marrow of the backebone which is also deriued from the braine as the originall of the ligaments is either in the bones or in the gristles or in the skinne and the beginning of the filaments both in the ligaments and in the sinewes according to that vse for which they were made And that the motion
thredes that are throughout the whole bodie both in the heart and in the stomacke and in other partes that haue flesh But we haue further to note the great differences of flesh that are in all the partes of the bodie that we may still increase in the knowledge of the marucilous woorkes of God and of his diuine prouidence For there is great difference betweene that flesh where with the bones ligaments and sinewes are couered and clothed and that of the internall partes of the bodie which also differeth in quality albeit all is compounded of one and the same matter For what difference is there betwixt that flesh which is betweene the skinne and the bones and that of the brayne as also that of thelungs heart liuer splene and kidneyes Not one of all these members hath his flesh like to any of the rest but they all differ very much according to the nature and office of the compounded members For the flesh of the brayne is by nature apt for the generation of the animall spirites as that of the heart for the vitall spirits and that of the lungs for ayre and breathing that of the liuer to turne the matter which it receyueth from the stomacke into blood and into nourishment for all the members that of the splene to draw the grosse blood which is as it were the Lees of the blood and to nourish it selfe thereby that of the kidneyes also to drawe so much blood as is requisite for their nourishment and likewise to drawe the vrine which after they sende into the bladder Thus you see howe euery of these internall partes of the body is compounded of flesh meete for his nature and office Whereby wee see many and sundry shoppes within mans body whereof euery one hath his proper woorke about which it is busied and such a nature as is agreeable to that woorke which GOD hath assigned vnto it who is the Creator and the Workmaster and effecteth all these works by his heauenly prouidence Moreouer we haue to note that the flesh generally serueth the whole bodie for matter of filling to keepe close all the members thereof and namely all the bowels and to fill all the spaces betweene them as also to strengthen all those partes that are inuironed therewith to the ende they might not easily bee shaken in pieces It defendeth also all the members both against heate and colde Likewise if any man fall or lye downe it serueth him for a boulster or soft pillow and for a shelter against bruses and a defence against wounds for a shadow against heate and a gowne against colde And thus much I thinke sufficient to bee knowne concerning this present Subiect Nowe before wee take any other matter in hande wee are to consider of the Kernels that are in the body because of their excellent vse and propertie especially wee are to consider of the Dugges wherein appeareth a singular worke of GOD namely in women as wee may presently heare of ARAM Of the kernels in the bodie and of their sundrie vses especially of the breasts of women of their beautiè and profite in nourishing of children and of the generation of milke Chap. 7. ARAM. He that should onely stay in considering the lumpe and confused matter whereof man is dayly made hee shoulde see therein but a litle slime yea such vile corruption and rottennesse that a man would bee euen ashamed to name it But as a painter with his colours draughts of his pensil giueth a forme to that matter whereof he maketh his piece of woorke and painteth limme after limme and piece after piece so the Lorde giueth by little and little and by piecemeale to that confused masse and lumpe such forme and fashion as it pleaseth him to bestow vpon it in that time which he hath appointed for that purpose and as hee vseth to doe beginning alwayes at the least and weakest part and at that which is as it were nothing hee still continueth and increaseth his woorke vntill it be perfite and absolute Likewise after we haue considered of the least most earthy partes that are in the corruptible matter of the body we will looke into them that are more excellent and then come to the contemplation of that immortall essence which dwelleth in him Therefore I wil now goe on with our matter Subiect Those partes of the body that are called Kernels by reason of the similitude they haue with nuttes are of two sortes and haue their vse and commoditie very great especially in two respects For some are by nature more thicke and dry and serue to fasten the vpper partition of the members and vessels of the bodie to the end they should neyther breake nor cleaue Therefore wee haue such Kernels in the necke in the arme-pits in the groynes and in those partes where the elbow and the hamme bende and in certaine other partes There are others not so thicke by nature and more spongy and moyst and full either of milke or of seede or els of a flegmatike and glewish humor Now albeit all kinds of Kernels are giuen to the bodie to drink vp the humors and to moisten the other partes neuertheles those that are of this latter kind ferue chiefly for the first vse We haue such also to moisten all the partes of the mouth and of the throate by the meanes of spittle that so they may bee kept from drought and that thirst may bee repelled and moderated Likewise they are very seruiceable to the life of man in that they soake and drinke vp as it were spoonges the fleame that descendeth from the braine that it should not fall vpon the lungs or into the stomake or vpon other partes of the bodie to the great damage and danger thereof as it happeneth to such as are short breathed and in consumptions and to them that are troubled with rheumes And as these serue in the mouth and throate for spittle so there are many and those very great ones in womens pappes especially when they haue milke to the making whereof they serue as also those that are in more secrete partes which serue for seede namely to keepe it to dresse it and to prepare it for generation Therefore it is that those kernels which are in the breasts of men and of young maydens are lesse and harder Wee ought not heere to passe ouer without great admiration the good temperature and disposition which GOD hath made of the whole matter and forme and of all the partes and members of mans bodie insomuch that there is nothing howe litle or vile socuer which is superfluous which is not very commodious and profitable and which is not wonderfully well applyed and appropriated to such places as are most fitte for it and to those vses whereunto it ought to serue For who woulde haue thought that these kernels thus dispersed throughout the bodie were so many wayes seruiceable vnto it as we see they are Yea wee might heere
in such wise that they are as it were a litle tabour stretched out in that place These small skinnes haue their originall from those sinewes by which the vertue of hearing proceedeth from the brayne to the eares For after the sounds are made in the ayre they are caried to these skinnes and then heard and discerned by them Heereupon they are made hollowe to receiue the soundes that come from without hauing a nature that agreeth very much with the ayre as the eyes do with the fire I meane in respect of their vertue which is burning and glistering albeit their substance bee moyst Therefore as the eyes iudge of light and colours and by that meanes bring great pleasure and profite to men so the eares iudge of sounds and of the voyce of notes harmony and of melodies whereby man receiueth commoditie and delight And if there were but the sundry notes of birdes what solace doeth hee receiue by it But besides how many instruments are there of most excellent and melodious musicke what voyces and pleasant songs framed very cunningly and with great grace and harmonie by the arte of musicke For we see by experience that this science is giuen of God to men that it might be chiefly dedicated to their eares to the end that by the sounds songs which they heare they might be stirred vp to praise God the giuer of them Therefore Salomon not without good reason called them the daughters of singing or of musicke because of the delight which they take therein and also because this whole arte and all songs and melody would bee vaine and vnprofitable to the life of man without hearing But aboue all the chiefest profite that the eares bring to men is by the meanes of speeche whereby they communicate one with another all their conceiptes imaginations thoughtes and counsailes so that without them the whole life of man would bee not onely deafe but dumbe also and very vnperfect as if man had neyther tongue mouth nor speech And on the other side seeing man hath alwayes neede of doctrine and instruction albeit all the other bodily senses helpe him therein neuerthelesse none is so fitte or more seruiceable to this purpose next to the eyes then the eares Wherefore if Salomon for the cause aboue rehearsed called them the daughters of singing a man may also call them the daughters of discipline and of knowledge For as man hath nothing more proper then speech whereby hee letteth others knowe what hee hath in his minde and heart so hee hath nothing more fitte then that to teach all thinges by whose doctrine is alreadie begunne by meanes of the other senses but principally of the eyes For the other senses together with the sense of seeing are as masons that lay the first foundation of the frame of doctrine and afterwarde speech buildeth vpon this grounde-woorke which it cannot doe if it bee not holpen by the eares and by hearing which agree with the voyce pronounced by the mouth whereby speech is sent and conueyed to the eares that it may bee hearde and vnderstoode of them Thus after the knowledge of things is found out and artes begunne by meanes of the sight after the same manner that was declared before by vs when wee intreated of the eyes then the sense of hearing teacheth a great deale more both greater matters and sooner For wee receiue and vnderstande in a short space that which our master who teacheth vs hath obtayned and prepared in a very long time For howe many thinges must wee see and what bookes must we reade before we shall attaine to the knowledge of that which we may learne by hearing one lecture at which we shal be auditors onely one houre or lesse Let vs consider then how conueniently and bountifully God dealeth with men in this behalfe when that thing which is very profitable and most necessary is made so easie for them For nothing is more profitable or more necessarie then to learne much nor any thing more easie then to heare much Therefore Salomon saieth That a wise man shall heare and increase in learning and a man of vnderstanding shall attaine vnto wise Counsels to vnderstand a parable and the interpretation the wordes of the wise and their darke sayings This also is the meanes whereby GOD hath appoynted that men shall learne and vnderstand his will And therefore as we heard that eyes were giuen vnto vs to this ende especially that they should contemplate the workes of God their and our Creator so we ought to know that eares were giuen vs that before all things we should heare and vnderstand his voyce and worde and consecrate them wholly to that purpose to the end that after the eares of the body haue heard it they should be the messengers to declare it to the eares of the soule and minde to cause them also to heare and vnderstand the same For this cause as the aire that entreth into the eares and bringeth vnto them the sound made in it selfe when it is stricken and moued moueth the litle hammer of the eares and causeth seth it to strike vpon the anuile and so maketh a sound by meanes of the litle taber through whose sounde the spirites of hearing are awakened so God by inspiration worketh in his Prophets and Ministers who receiue his voyce after a diuine manner and then are they as it were the hammers that strike vpon the anuiles of mens mindes and heartes by which sounde the spirites of the hearers are awakened and stirred vp But my desire is that wee should throughly consider heere this great secrete of GOD that lyeth hidde in nature namely the meanes whereby the hearing is made and framed in the eares which wee cannot see or comprehende as it is in it selfe Neuerthelesse God giueth vs great light thereunto by the matter and forme of the instruments which he hath made for the hearing Wherefore seeing the eares are framed so artificially as wee haue hearde as appeareth to the eye by their Anatomie wee cannot doubt but that God would haue their vse and artificiall composition knowen to them that may beholde with their eies the instruments of hearing when they are laid open vnto them as they are to Anatomists to the end that by the view and contemplation of theÌ„ they might iudge of that secret worke of nature which God hath wrought in hearing which cannot bee seene with eyes when it is in doing For we knowe by experieâ—ce whereto serueth a hammer an anuile and a taber and what sound they make when the one striketh and the other is stricken and howe that hollow things are more fitte to receiue sounds and to cause them to be heard better then things that are solide and more thicke So that when we see instruments like to these in the composition of the eares we may easily iudge that God hath not placed them there but to doe that seruice which may be perfourmed by such instruments to
hath not giuen it to any of them but to him only by that he hath put a difference betweene him the beasts as also by reason and vnderstanding whereof he hath made him partaker in respect wherof he hath giuen him speech which is as naturall vnto him as reason which is the spring head thereof and from whence it proceedeth as a riuerfrom his fountaine For how could men make known their counsailes thoughts without speech And what good should they receiue by that sense vnderstanding which God hath giuen them more theÌ„ to beasts if they had no more speech then they haue wherby to make it known And to what purpose would speech serue them if they knew not what to say And what should they haue to speake if they had no more vnderstaÌ„ding reason then other liuing creatures haue Were it not sufficient then to haue a coÌ„fused voice only as they haue Therfore also we see how God hath ioined these twothings together graunting speech vnto man because hee hath created him paâ—taker of reason and vnderstanding And hauing depriued beasts of the one hee hath also depriued them of the other so that they are partakers neither of reason nor speech For this cause Ecclesiasticus hath ioyned these things together saying That God hath giuen to men counsell and tongue and eyes eares and an heart to vnderstand and sixtly he gaue them a spirite and seuenthly he gaue them speech to declare his woorkes Hee filled them with knowledge of vnderstanding and shewed them good and euill Whereby he teacheth vs plainly what is the right true vse of speech to what end it is giuen to man and from whence it springeth For he placeth counsell in the first place and next the tongue Againe after the heart and spirite he placeth speech that we might know who is their messenger Whereupon we may conclude that the one is giuen for the other and both to glorifie God by shewing foorth his works and marueilous actes To which effect Basil the great saith very well that God hath created vs and graunted vs the vse of speech to the end we might haue the ability and meanes to lay open one to another the counsels and thoughtes of our heartes and to distribute amongst vs that which is in euery one by reason of that communicable nature in which we are created For the heart ought to bee in man as a secrete treasurie or as a larder or pantry in a house out of which all things necessary for the vse thereof and for the maintenaunce of the whole familie are dayly taken The heart also is like to a seller or garner wherein counsels and thoughts are locked and closed vp and the tongue is like to the steward who draweth out and dispenseth whatsoeuer is to bee distributed For as wee saide in the beginning of our speech our soule vseth thoughts and discourses which cannot bee declared so long as it is inclosed in this tabernacle of flesh without speech wordes and names by meanes of which she bringeth foorth and publisheth that which was inclosed and hidden in the secrete closet of her vnderstanding And so wee say that there are two kindes of speech in man one internall and of the minde the other externall which is pronounced and is the messenger of the internall that speaketh in the heart Therefore that which is framed in voyce pronounced in speech and brought into vse is as a riuer sent from the thought with the voyce as from his fountaine For before the thought can vtter any outward speech by meanes of the voyce first the minde must receiue the images of things presented vnto it by the corporall senses And then hauing receiued them by the imaginatiue vertue that is in it reason must discourse to knowe and to consider of them well and to separate or ioyne things according to that agreement or difference that concorde or discord which they may haue amongst them Next it is necessary that iudgement should follow this discourse to make choise of and to followe that which it shall iudge to be meete and conuenient and to reiect and shunne the contrary Lastly all must be vttered by significations apt and conuenient for euery thing so that when the minde hath giuen ouer to the office of the vocall instruments that which it hath comprised and resolued vpon in manner aforesaid the same is manifestly declared outwardly by the aire framed into voyce I meane by the moouing of the articulate and distinct voice whereas before it was hid and couered Now when this voice and speach is pronounced with the mouth as it is inuisible to the eyes so it hath no body whereby the hands may take hold of it but is insensible to all the senses except the hearing which neuerthelesse cannot lay hold of it or keepe it fast as it were with griping hands but entring in of it selfe it is so long detained there whilest the sound reboundeth in the eares and then vanisheth away suddenly But albeit the sound and the voyce passeth so sodainely as if presently it flew away hauing respect to the outward speech neuerthelesse the internall speach remaineth not onely in the spirite heart and thought that ingendred it not being in any sort diuided cut off or seperated but also it filleth all the hearers by reason of the agreement that is betweene the spirites and mindes of men and the speach that is bred there and because it differeth not much from the minde and from the thought where it first beganne and was bred And thus the thoughtes and counsailes of the minde and spirite are discouered and manifested by speach So that al voice is not speach For the name of voyce generally taken comprehendeth all sounds and things which bring any noise to the eares Neuerthelesse it is more properly and specially attributed to those sounds which all sortes of liuing creatures are able to make with their throat to signifie any thing therby But man onely hath articulate and well distinguished soundes vnto which birdes of all other beastes approch neerest so that euen many of them are taught in some sort to frame mans voyce but it is without vnderstanding And because that instruments of musicke do after a sort imitate the distinct voyce of men wee attribute voyce to them although the sounds which they make be more without iudgement and vnderstanding then that of beasts But in men voyces framed into wordes are signes and significations of the whole soule and minde both generally and specially namely of the fantasie and imagination of reason and iudgement of vnderstanding and memory of will and affections Wherefore it is an easie matter to iudge by his speach howe all these partes are affected namely whether they bee sound or haue any defect in them For if a man be dull witted or haue his fantasie and imagination troubled and his memory slowe and heauy he shall haue much adoe to speake
that which he thinketh and conceiueth in mind and haue as we vse to say but a bad vtterance Which thing also may happen to good wits either for want of exercise and vse or through some defect that may be in the body or in the instruments of the voice or because the matter whereof they speake may be profound obscure and difficult so that a man cannot easily find words fitly to expresse the nature of it as the woorthinesse thereof requireth Which reason oft entimes maketh wise and skilfull men slowe to speake because they know what a hard matter it is to vtter in good sort that which is to be spoken in so much that they had rather keepe silence then speake ill or vnproperly But a light-head and a cocke-braine that is void of this consideration wil thinke hee hath a more ready wit For he wil speake before he ponder or discourse in his minde So that whosoeuer hath not a ripe and stayed reason nor temperate and setled senses hee can not haue his wordes set in good order nor his speaches well knit and agreeing one with another as we haue example heereof in children and fooles And if a man haue reason and iudgement ready at hand but not stayed and pithy hee may well prooue some great babbling pleader but not eloquent For hee onely is to bee accompted eloquent who can conceiue well in his spirite and minde that which he ought to speake and then is able to expresse it well both by apt wordes and by sentences that are well tied and knit together We see then how the voyce and speach of man lay open his whole heart minde and spirite But the voyces of beasts haue no significations but onely affections I meane such as are in men and which the Grammarians call Interiections because they are not framed into speach nor well distinguished as others are Nowe if wee vnderstand all these things well they may help very much to instruct and confirme vs in the doctrine of the Trinitie of persons of the Vnitie of the Godhead and of the eternall generation of the Sonne of God who is his diuine and euerlasting word Likewise they will cause vs to conceiue more easily how this heauenly and eternall word namely Iesus Christ is the Image and Character of God the expresse and ingraued forme of his person as it is in the Epistle to the Hebrews and not in shadow or painting For the glorie maiestie and vertue of the Father is alwaies hid from vs but only so farre foorth as it sheweth it selfe ingraued in his sonne and in his word as the image of the minde appeareth imprinted and ingrauen in the speach that is vttered And as the internall word bred in the minde departeth not from it neither is seperated and yet it imprinteth an image thereof in the mindes of the hearers to whom it is declared so the diuine and eternall worde begotten of the Father is alwayeâ— resident in God and yet imprinteth his image in the heartes and mindes of men to whome it is manifested by those meanes which hee hath appointed for that purpose Thus you see a gappe laide open into these high and great secrets of God which wee ought to marke well following such phrases of speach as are taken from humane things and vsed by the spirit of God in the holy scriptures to the end wee might more easily vnderstand them Wherefore if there were no other reason this were sufficient to induce vs to consider more diligently the excellent worke and great prouidence of God which appeareth in the framing of the voyce and speach of man and in the nature and vse thereof and in those members and instrumentes of the bodie which serue to that purpose Therefore AMANA let this matter be the subiect of thy discourse Of the agreement which the instruments of the voyce and speach haue with a paire of Organes what thinges are to bee considered in the placing of the lungs next the heart of the pipes and instruments of the voyce Chap. 14. AMANA When we consider diligently all the instruments created by God in the body as well for the ministery of the voyce as of speach we shall finde amongst them all thinges requisite in the best and most perfect instrument of musicke that can bee to make a good harmony and we shall know that no Organs are so wel made or disposed in such good order for the compassing of their sound and melody as the instruments of the voyce and speach of man are And by the consideration of this concordance wee are admonished alwayes to haue the same thing in the mouth which wee haue in the thought to the end that from such an agreement as it were in euerie part of an Organ and of an instrument of musicke there should proceede a good harmony and pleasant melody For if there shoulde be discord betweene the heart the tongue and the speach the harmony could not be good especially before God the Iudge of most secret thoughts no more then the harmony of a musicall instrument quite out of tune would be pleasant in the eares of men namely of good Musicions who can iudge best of concords and discords First then wee must note that the breast necke and head are as it were the instrument and the body of the Organs within which they are put and inclosed and by which they are sustained next that the lungs are as it were their bellows to blow them Therefore it is made of two pieces ioyned together like to a paire of bellowes to drawe in and to thrust forth the aire and to helpe eche other in respiration and breathing Wherein we must call to minde howe needeful it was that the backebone and breast and the building of the ribbes shoulde bee framed in that sort that we heard before that they might serue to this vse make roome for these bellows to inlarge themselues and to do their duetie Wee see also what their nature is what motion they haue and from whence they receiue it For God hath created them of that nature that they moue and remoue of themselues by the vertue of the soule and life in the body without which they woulde bee voyde of motion and coulde not do their office as we see in dead bodies And because the lungs are the bellowes that blowe winde into the instruments of the voyce without which it coulde not bee made therefore they are lodged next to the heart so that they couer it to this end that men should be admonished that their voyce and their speach is the messenger of their heart and that for this cause the heart and the mouth and the voice and speach which proceede from them alwayes ought to consent and agree together For it would be great dissolutenesse if the heart which ought to be the originall and fountaine of the speach should thinke one thing and the speach which is the messenger of the
we haue saide yet these soundes will be but confused without harmony and melody if the Organist doeth not play with his handes thereby to dispense as neede requireth that winde and breath which is to be distributed into the pipes and if hee touch not the keyes of the Organs according to those tunes and notes which hee woulde haue the pipes to make following the Arte of Musicke And this we may see yet more plainely in a bagge-pipe For although it soundeth by reason of the winde within the leather bagge which receiueth and keepeth it as it were a little sacke yet it alwayes yeeldeth foorth but one sound without distinction and harmony vntill the Minstrill play with his fingers vpon the holes of the pipe that belongeth vnto it Therfore as there is great difference betwene a simple confused voice that which is distinct artificiall so is there betweene voyce and speech So that when the tongue hath receiued the winde and breath which ascendeth vp from the lunges by the rough artery and is fashioned into voyce by the meanes afore mentioned then it formeth the same afterward into distinct speech by such an arte and science as none can vnderstande much lesse expresse it but GOD onely who hath giuen it to the tongue in which consisteth the chiefe dignitie thereof For it is that science which is the mother of eloquence which men haue in such great admiration and because of this the artes of Grammer Logike and Rhetorike haue beene published by the best learned men For all these three Artes are specially appoynted for speech the one to make it proper pure nete namely Grammer the other namely Logike to knit well together all discourses made by speech and all sentences in them according as they agree among themselues depend and follow one another and are grounded vpon good reason Thirdly Rhetorike is ioyned vnto them to adorne and polish speech to make it more significant and very eloquent so that whereas Logike maketh speech as it were a simple picture that hath nothing but bare draughts which serue to make it whole and furnished in regard of euery part and lineament thereof Rhetorike maketh it not onely as it were a picture well set foorthwith faire and liuely colours of all sortes but also adorned and enriched with goodly hilles and dales and such like payntings that it may shewe better and bee made fairer and pleasaunter to beholde Wherefore as there is great difference to looke vpon betweene these two pictures so is there of speech in respectes of the eares as it is propounded eyther more plainely and simply or more deeked and garnished For this cause seeing God hath vouchsafed vs so much honour as to giue vs speech especially to prayse and glorifie him with our tongue and to benefite the common societie of men we must not be content onely to speake but we must studie to speake well in fit termes and wisely to the glorie of God and to the good and profite as well of our selues as of them that heare vs. This cannot be done but by the knowledge of God and of his word without which all the Logike Rhetorik of men is but vaine babbling But when the one is ioyned with the other the artes that teach men to speak elegantly are appliedto this purpose then is the vse therof very good worthy of great cōmendation Therfore we must all acknowledge our selues to be as it were Organ-pipes hauing of our selues neither sound nor voyce nor tongue nor mouth to speake of God of his works as we ought and to praise and glorifie him but only so farre foorth as hee being the Organ-player bloweth within and inspireth vs by his holy spirit giuing vnto vs wisedome and tongue and mouth and vertue in speaking Now heere wee must not onely call to minde what we haue already spoken of the causes why the lungs which is one chiefe instrument of the voyce and without which it cannot bee made is placed so neere the heart but also wee must consider howe neere the tongue and the other instruments of voyce and speach next vnto it are vnto the braine wherein is the principall seate of the spirit and which is chiefly assigned to the minde of man and to that part of his soule that is most diuine For seeing God would haue the tongue to be the messenger and as it were the Interpreter of the spirite and minde and of all the thoughts thereof that men might teach one another both the knowledge of God his worship and of all other good things and seeing hee would haue speach to be the bond of humane societie and of that communication which men ought to haue one with an other therefore it was very requisite that being the instrument of speaking it shoulde be neere the braine which is the lodging of all the internall senses of which if God will wee will intreate heereafter in their place For as all the externall senses doe carry to the internall and the bodily to the spirituall whatsoeuer they perceiue by sense according to their nature and office thereby to admonish and instruct them that they may thinke and iudge thereof and lay it vp in memory so the internall and spirituall senses carry the same things afterward to the tongue that it might declare and make them knowen to those vnto whome they would communicate their minde and cogitation Hereof it is that the tongue is oftentimes taken for doctrine and for all speach both good and euill in which sence Salomon taketh it when he saieth The tongue of the wicked shall perish And Saint Paul calleth speaking with the tongue when one vseth spech that is not vnderstoode of the hearers and speaking with the spirite and with vnderstanding also when such a language is vsed as is vnderstoode of euery one and which serueth to the edification of them that heare it Therfore the tongue must not stirre nor the mouth open it selfe to speake before it haue receiued a commandement and charge from reason which is the Lady and Mistresse thereof to guide and gouern it whose messenger and seruant it is to giue notice of that which the reason and minde would haue knowen Wherefore it is very conuenient that the lady and mistresse of the tongue shoulde haue her lodging ouer and neere about her and not to be farre from her to the end she forget not her selfe nor attempt any thing without a commandement from reason So that as before wee gaue the heart to be the gouernour guide and counsailour of the tongue so nowe we appoint the braine as lord and master thereof to the end it should haue a good guide both aboue and beneath it For no member in al the body hath greater neede Therefore S. Iames calleth the tongue a fire yea a world of iniquitie which defileth the whole body and setteth on fire the course of nature and is set on fire of hell
it cannot doe those woorkes by a maymed and lame hande which it will doe by him that hath both his handes nor cause a lame creeple wanting a foote or legge or hauing some defect in those partes to walke as well as an other that hath all these sounde and perfect And a man may iudge of my speech by that which happeneth not onely to them that fall into an Apoplexie but also to such as haue some quaume about their heart so that they faint and sowne and are for the time as it were dead and yet afterwarde plucke vp their spirites and come againe to their former estate But before they be reuiued they seeme as though they had no soule in their bodies because it is not perceiued by the woorkes thereof as it is when the bodie is well affected And this is chiefly to be seene in a strong Apoplexie or falling sicknesse in which the patient looseth all motion and sense Wherevpon it hath come to passe oftentimes that many haue bene buried for dead in that case who were notwithstanding aliue and some haue recouered and done well afterward as wee haue many examples both in common experience and in histories olde and newe Nowe whilest the soule is thus letted from performing her actions by such inconueniences who would not iudge that she were cleane extinguished with the body Neuerthelesse afterward when she can vse her instruments shee sheweth plainely that the fault commeth not of her but of the instruments that faile her Therefore when we speak of the soule and of the body we must put the same difference between them that is betwixt a Workman and his tooles considering the nature of both and what they can doe both ioyntly and seuerally For an instrument hath neither knowledge nor force nor vertue of it selfe being able to doe nothing alone but onely so farre foorth as it is set on woorke by some Woorkeman But there is another reason in the Woorkeman For although hee cannot vse his arte without those instruments that are necessary thereunto yet hee hath alwayes abiding within him that arte power force and dexteritie whereby he woorketh So that when wee speake of the soule wee are to consider what shee can doe of her selfe and of her owne nature without the bodie and what shee cannot doe without it For we learne in the holy Scriptures that when Angels appeared to men because they are spirits and haue no speech like to that of men as being bodilesse and wanting instruments necessary for the framing therof therefore they tooke mens bodies to appeare and speake to men in and by them No marueile then if the soule which is created to vse the members of the body as instruments speaketh not without a tongue as it doeth with one and with the other Organs of voyce and speech Now forasmuch as wee know that the soule giueth life motion and sence to all the body and that it hath sundry instruments in the body in which and by which it perfourmeth those workes for which they were created of God we are now to consider what facultie power and vertue it hath in euery part of the body For albeit that we cannot assigne to the soule especially to the spirite and vnderstanding which is the most excellent part therein any certaine place of lodging as if it were inclosed within any one part or within all the partes of the body neuerthelesse we may iudge of the nature thereof by those instruments whereby it worketh and by their nature and by the workes it produceth And in this consideration we haue a goodly glasse wherein wee may contemplate God that is inuisible making him visible and knowne vnto vs by his workes euen as the soule is become as it were visible and sheweth it selfe to vs by the bodie in which it dwelleth and by the workes which it doeth therein Therefore let vs propound vnto our selues this whole visible world as it were one great bodie then all the partes as members thereof next let vs consider how the soule of all this great body namely the vertue and power of God worketh therein and effecteth all the workes that are done therein according to that order he hath set therein as the soule worketh in the bodie of man and in euery member thereof Thus doing as we know that there is a soule in the bodie and another nature beside that which is bodily and which worketh therein and this we perceiue by the effects thereof so let vs marke withall by the works done in this visible world that there is another nature that effecteth them which being inuisible differeth from all this world wee see as that which is farre more excellent which filleth the whole and by vertue and power is in all the partes thereof as a soule in a bodie But in propounding this glasse before our eyes we must take heede that we fall not into their dotage who haue thought and affirmed that the worlde is the body of God and that himselfe is the soule thereof For therevpon it would follow that God is mortall and corruptible in regard of his body and that some part or other thereof would alwayes corrupt as we daily see corporall things doe Againe if it were so God should not be infinite and incomprehensible as he is for the worlde doeth not comprehend and containe him but he all the world whereof he is the Creator and by whom the world is and consisteth Seeing then the soule is the image of God in man as the body of man is the image of this great world in which God worketh as the soule doeth in the body of man let vs cōsider how God hath distributed the powers vertues and offices of the soule in the body and in euery part thereof as he manifesteth his glory and vertue in all this visible world in all the partes of it For first they agree herein that as there is but one soule in one body which is sufficient for all the partes and members thereof so there is but one God in the world sufficient for all the creatures Next if we cannot conceiue howe the soule is lodged in the body or how it giueth life vnto it neither yet howe it worketh displayeth therein the vertues which it hath but onely so farre foorth as it testifieth the same by those diuers effects which we see and perceiue in euery part and member thereof no marueile then if wee cannot with our eyes discerne or comprehend how God is throughout all filling heauen and earth how he displayeth his power and vertue howe he worketh in all his creatures and how hee guideth gouerneth and preserueth them by his heauenly prouidence For if wee cannot comprehend the creature nor the nature thereof how shall wee comprehend the nature of the Creator And if it be not in our power to know the workes of God wrought in vs neither the woorkes of our owne soule how shall we know his works done
moderation or defect in the internall senses which exercise their offices in the head as well particularly as generally Therefore it is not without reason sayde in our common speach of him that hath a good spirite sense and iudgement that his head is well made and contrariwise that his head is ill made that wanteth these things For whatsoeuer the inhabitant or workeman is that laboureth the lodging in which hee dwelleth or the tooles and instruments which hee vseth are of great moment to further or hinder him in his worke But nowe that we are in hand with frenetike persons and haue saide before that good and ill spirites haue great meanes and such as wee can not comprehend whereby they mooue the imagination and fantasie of men it shall not be altogether fruitlesse if we speake somewhat of them that are possessed with spirites For there are some who thinke not that the Deuilles in their very substance enter into the bodies or soules heartes or mindes of men I speake not heere of such as thinke there is neither God nor Angelles nor Deuilles but euen of them that beleeue all these thinges who neuerthelesse thinke that euill spirites trouble the heartes and mindes of men onely by prouocations temptations and illusions Others there are that referre all the madnesse of Lunatike folkes to naturall causes as if they proceeded either from melancholike or cholerike humours or some such like causes as frensinesse madnesse and furie or some such diseases whereby men are carried beside themselues True it is and cannot be denied that many are thought to be possessed with Deuilles when in deede they are nothing so For there are some counterfeit crankes as many haue beene taken with the maner who vpon some occasion haue by meere knauery fained themselues such And some also there are that bee but melancholy madde and carried away by some disease of the braine but because their melancholie and furie is very violent and strange ignorant people suppose they are possessed with some spirite Notwithstanding wee may not doubt but that euil spirits desirous to hurt men both in their goodes bodies and soules vse al the meanes and occasions they can possibly inuent and finde out to execute their malice when it pleaseth God to giue them leaue For they can driue forward and mooue the hearts and mindes of men and set them in such a fury that euen their reason and iudgement wil be wholly confounded and as it were cleane extinguished Heereupon it commeth that many being caried headlong with such madnesse teare and kill themselues or their owne wiues children or others whereof we may daily see many examples Neuerthelesse we say not that the naturall light which God hath giuen them is wholly put out in them much lesse in those that are not so farre gone but the Deuill doeth stirre them forward with such violence that they are as it were taken perforce from themselues when they are forsaken of God Which examples ought to admonish vs to call vpon God incessantly that hee woulde gouerne vs by his sonne Iesus Christ who is come to destroy the woorkes of the Deuill that so the light of reason and of iudgement may not be darkened or put out in vs and that our heartes be not so possessed and pusshed on by Satan that wee rush our selues through a deuilish furie against the will of God And this did our Sauiour teach vs to demaund of him when hee saide Pray that yee enter not into tentation and when hee taught vs to say Leade vs not into tentation but deliuer vs from euill For if euill spirits durst set vpon those that were sounde both in body and soule after that manner which I haue spoken of according to that power that was giuen them wee may not thinke that they spare such as are sicke especially those that are already troubled in braine and beside themselues For the Deuill as our mortall enemie continually watcheth for those occasions that are fittest and most for his aduantage to hurte vs withal Therefore he intrudeth himselfe amidst our diseases and miseries chiefely when there is weakenesse of braine ioyned therewith vsing against vs those weapons which hee findeth in our owne nature as also those which his owne malice and rage ministreth vnto him whereof wee haue a very profitable example in the historie of Iob. Hee declareth plainely by his speach that if the feare of God had not kept him backe he had rather haue strangled himself then liued in that miserable estate wherein he was And no doubt if God had not helde a strong hand ouer his seruant Iob and brideled the rage and euill will of Satan that persecuted him the Deuill had had great power ouer this good man to haue perswaded him to make away himselfe desperately as Achitophel and Iudas did Nowe if the Deuill preuailed so farre with Iob by that leaue which God gaue him to afflict and trouble him wee may well thinke what hee can doe with the wicked and reprobate whome GOD wholly abandoneth and giueth ouer vnto him We haue a very plaine example in Saul of whome it is written that the spirite of the Lord went from him and that hee was giuen ouer of the Lord to an euill spirite which troubled and vexed him and that in the ende he fell into such desperation that hee vtterly forsooke God and slew himselfe We may know also by that which the holy Euangelists haue written of such as were possessed and were healed by Iesus Christ and by his Apostles what power euill spirites haue ouer thē whilest God suffered them to execute their rage and furie A man may easily iudge that such persons are not onely out of their wits through sicknesse but that euill spirites possesse them For he so troubleth their minde and spirite that they knowe 〈◊〉 more what they doe then the veriest bedlems that can be And although hee horribly vexeth their bodies yet they feele not his torments or if they doe feele them yet they cannot abstain from vexing thēselues So that it is easily knowen that the deuill is in them and that it proceedeth not onely of a simple frenzie or melancholy humour seeing some of them haue done such things as coulde not possibly bee perfourmed by the power of man whereof some of those are witnesses whom the holy scripture rehearseth vnto vs. Wherefore it is out of all question that euill spirites haue wrought both in them and by them Therefore we haue good occasion offered vnto vs by all that hath beene hitherto spoken to humble our selues before God and to pray vnto him continually as wee saide in the beginning of our speech For being as we are we ought still to praise God who distributeth his graces as it pleaseth him and that by a most exquisite kinde of iustice And when wee see those that are infirme and beside themselues some for a certaine time and by fittes others continually and after diuers manners
therefore it tendeth to disliking which is wholly against consent For this cause wee call Opinion a knowledge that moueth vs to encline rather on the one side then on the other in regard of the appearance and shewe of reason that it hath so that wee are not fully resolued therein Nowe albeeit this consent which is called opinion or coniecture bee not altogether so firme as that which wee call beleefe neuerthelesse it differeth from Doubting which is as it were a neuter iudgement hanging betweene consent and his contrary and inclining neither to the one side nor to the other As for that beleefe which is of diuine things there is such a firme consent required therein as that all doubting must be vtterly excluded For faith is not perfect if it doe not allowe for certaine whatsoeuer God hath reuealed vnto men by his worde which is a certaine testimonie of his will And although hee hath giuen vnto vs the same meanes to instruct vs by in these things that he hath done in humane things yet hee goeth further For hee doeth not onely teach vs by experience by reasons and demonstrations which appeare manifestly to-our senses both externall and internall and of which our minde can iudge as well as of humane things but he requireth chiefely of vs that wee shoulde beleeue his testimony and those witnesses which he sendeth vnto vs and that wee shoulde content our selues with his authoritie And because heauenly things surpasse the capacitie of our vnderstandings God maketh them capable by the light of faith which is a supernaturall and diuine light whereby wee see that in God which we cannot beholde in all the creatures and which our humane reason cannot naturally comprehend Now as much as this light is more certaine then all other naturall light either externall of the eyes of the body or internall in respect of the eyes of the soule and minde so much more certaine is our sight and knowledge of that which wee see and knowe by meanes of that light For this cause when our vnderstandings are lightned with this light wee beleeue more firmely that which it manifesteth vnto vs I say not onely then that whereunto wee may bee perswaded by all the humane reasons which can be alleadged but also then that which we see with our owne eyes and heare with our eares and touch with our hands For these externall senses and those internall senses also whose messengers the other are are not so certaine witnesses to our spirite as the senses of faith which are more then humane For they are heauenly Wherefore shee hath eies whereby she seeth diuinely and not humanely which can neuer be deceiued as the eyes of the body may The like wee may say of her eares and of her handes For there is no sense so certaine as all hers are because she receiueth them diuinely by the spirit Therfore as she hath not in her any imagination or fantasie that can deceiue her so she can neuer faile either in her discourses or in her iudgements whereupon shee resolueth because she is alwayes guided in them by the holy spirite whome she followeth for her rule in all things and who assureth her by his testimony as if she bare the markes and seales imprinted in her selfe and in their mindes and hearts in whome shee dwelleth Heereof it is that Saint Paul so often saieth that God hath sealed vs by his holy Spirite speaking as it were of a seale imprinted in our hearts and mindes and as of an earnest and gage which God hath giuen vs for the best and most certaine assurance that can bee No maruell therefore if the children of God endewed with this true faith become so resolute so firme and constant that no authoritie power wisedome force eloquence no humane reasons nor any thing that men or deuils can imagine think say or doe is able to make them to change their mindes whereof we haue most euident examples especially in the person of all the Martyres who could neuer by any violence in the world be ouercome but their faith hath euermore gotten the victory and triumphed ouer all their enemies And by this wee may assuredly knowe that it is better grounded then vpon all the reasons and perswasions of men that may be Therefore it is not without cause that S. Paul calleth it the gift of God neither is it without great reason commended so much in the Epistle to the Hebrewes For being come to that point that it hath such an illumination as to accompt all that God reuealeth in his worde to bee more certaine then any thing that wee either see with our eies or touch with our hands hereof to haue a true sense and feeling of the testimony of the holy spirit then doth it exclude al doubting which is contrary thereunto and differeth much from that which we hold only in opinion wherein there is as yet no great assurance So that we may conclude hereupon that according as faith is more or lesse in vs wee shall neuer conclude ill nor at any time giue ouer our conclusions For faith neuer concludeth any thing which God hath not before spoken whose word and authoritie is vnto it as in deede it ought to be in steade of all reason For seeing it is that wisedome and trueth which can neuer faile or lie it needeth not to doubt in any respect to conclude alwayes therewith neyther hath it cause at any time afterward to forsake or change the conclusion it hath set downe Wherefore when our faith is shaken and beginneth to alter it is a signe and testimony that it holdeth more of the nature of opinion then of beleefe and that it hath not yet a iudgement throughly resolued in the conclusion which it hath taken So that heere wee may learne what difference there is betwixt beleefe opinion doubting and infidelitie or incredulitie For seeing incredulitie is contrary to beleefe it goeth farther then doubting which concludeth nothing on either side as both beleefe and opinion doe but incredulitie concludeth contrarie to them both For it giueth no consent as beleefe and opinion doe but taketh the cleane contrary and therefore it may well be called dissent or disagreement as being opposite to that consent that is in beleefe Now to end this speech and to take away al doubting that may arise of this word Beleefe or Faith I will only adde this that wee are to know that it is diuersly takē in the holy scripturs For the name which it hath in the Hebrew tongue is taken frō the word whereby they expresse veritie or truth which they also take for constancie assurance The word which the Euangelists and Apostles vse according to the Graecians in whose language they wrote signifieth properly Perswasion And the name vsed by the Latines from whome wee haue taken our Faith signifieth that constancie and trueth which men keepe in their wordes and promises whereupon
of the affections it is necessary they shoulde agree together For as reason guideth before the affections will followe after Therefore wee may alwayes iudge of reason by the affections which it ought to gouerne as of the gouernement of a good Prince by the estate of his subiects of a good father of a family by those of his houshold Moreouer seeing the affections proceede from the heart there is the seate of that loue which wee ought to beare as well towardes God as towardes men which comprehendeth the whole lawe of God and all iustice For he that loueth God is not onely afraide to offend and displease him but desireth also to serue please him and he that loueth his neighbour doeth not onely abstaine from procuring him any dishonour or losse but laboureth also to aduance his honour and profit Therefore if the minde be lightened and inflamed with diuine light and the reason also that ruleth therein then the heart will waxe hote and burne with the loue of God and of his neighbour Which if it fall out so the heart will not be slacke in shewing foorth those heauenly motions that are within it in giuing matter to the soule to glorifie God and to the tongue and mouth which will speake out of the abundance thereof Likewise there will be an accord and consent betweene it and the voyce and tongue which then will vtter nothing but the trueth And this is the cause of that which wee were taught before namely that God by his prouidence and wise counsaile hath ioyned neere vnto the heart the chiefe instrument of the voyce which is the lungs as the other instruments that are higher are lodged neere to the braine and cheefely the tongue as the Oratours and Embassadours of Kings are placed next vnto them Wherefore if mans nature had not beene corrupted through sinne but had continued perfect and sound there woulde alwayes haue beene a goodly concord and consent betweene the heart and the braine the voice and the tongue the reason and the affections Next wee must note that seeing the heart is the first member of the whole body that receiueth life and thē giueth the same to others as also the last that leaueth life and seeing it is the shop of all the vitall spirits without which neither the braine nor the rest of the members can haue life or perforume their dueties it is not without cause that this member is taken to be as it were the seate not onely of the affections but also of reason Therefore it is taken in the Scripture one while for the minde as when Moses saieth to the people of Israel Yet the Lord hath not giuen you a heart to know and another while it is taken for the affections as when our Sauiour Christ saieth Thou shalt loue the Lord thy God with all thy heart with all thy soule and with all thy minde For wee see heere howe he putteth a difference betweene the heart and the minde Sometime they are put indifferently one for another or one for both especially the heart as when the Lorde saide to Salomon Beholde I haue giuen thee a wise and an vnderstanding heart the heart is taken for the senses and minde as it appeareth very euidently For the same cause Saint Paul continuing his speach of Gods punishment aboue mentioned against the vngodlinesse and vnrighteousnesse of men hee addeth to that before recited this saying Wherefore also God gaue them vp to their hearts lustes vnto vncleannesse to defile their owne bodies betweene themselues which turned the trueth of God vnto a lie In which place wee see howe the Apostle maketh the heart to be the seate of the appetites and of the affections and howe hee calleth the vnruly and disordered affections of the heart by the name of lustes for so hee expoundeth himselfe by and by after calling them Vile Affections vnto which God gaue them vp Whereupon wee will note this that the naturall affections of the heart which pricke it forward to the desire of pleasure and which minister pleasure vnto it shoulde be no sinne at all vnto men but a benefite giuen them of God in the perfection of their nature were it not that by reason of the corruption which hath raken holde of it such desires and affections cannot containe themselues within the limites of their sound nature but there is alwayes some excesse euen in the perfectest and that being sinne is properly called euill concupiscence because it continually prouoketh vs to euill and causeth vs to goe beyond the bounds which God had set to our affections Whereof it is come to passe that that which should be a benefite vnto men in their naturall pleasures is become hurtfull vnto them Nowe forasmuch as the order of our discourses hath brought vs to the tractate of affections which haue their seate in the heart before wee goe any further we must say somewhat of the nature of this part of the body as we haue done of the braine to the ende we may the better know the seate and instruments of the vital power and vertue of the soule and of the will and affections as those which belong to the animal power and vertue haue bene declared vnto vs. Let vs then heare ASER handle this matter Of the nature and composition of the heart and of the midriffe of the tunicles or skinny couerings of the breast and of the Pericardion or cawle about the heart of the motion office and vse of the lungs of the heart and of the arteries Chap. 37. ASER. It is not without good and iust cause that God hath ordained that reason should lodge in the highest part of the frame of man and that the will and affections should lodge lower namely in the heart For by this order hee would admonish and tell vs what part and power of the soule ought to beare greatest sway therein and that vnderstanding and wisdome which teach vs the true rules according to which wee must square our whole life ought to raigne and haue the first place seeing the principall cause wherefore God hath created vs is to knowe him to the end that knowing him we should loue and honour him as wee ought and as for the affections they are to be 〈◊〉 and gouerned by wisedome and vnderstanding Wherfore if this order appointed by God be confounded and turned topsie turuy in vs hee causeth vs to feele and knowe it well enough For although sinne be the cause yet the impression of that diuine image which God hath set in the nature of man cannot be so wholy defaced in vs but there will alwayes remaine very euident and wonderfull testimonies thereof And therefore presently after we haue ouerthrowne this order and that the will lifteth her selfe vp against reason euen then doth reason condemne that fault of hers and compelleth the heart to take vengeance thereof and to punish in it her selfe disobedience and rebellion
with great torments and griefs insomuch that either it must consume away and perish or els returne to his due order and place and the wil must know that she hath a mistres not onely to teach her but also to correct her when she shall do amisse and peruert her order But let vs speake of that which more particularly concerneth so wonderfull a part of the body namely the heart First wee must remember how wee diuided before the internall parts of the frame and building of man into three bellies and lodgings of which the first I meane the braine was shewed vnto vs with all his partes Nowe we will come to the second which is in the middest betweene the other two namely in the breast which containeth the vesselles and instruments of the vitall facultie and vertue and those are the heart the arteries the lungs the rough artery with the appurtenances thereof Heere of it is that the name of the heart is oftentimes taken in the holy Scriptures for the middest or for the inward and secret part of a thing as when it speaketh of the heart of the earth and of the sea and of the heauens Nowe as wee haue heard howe reason hath his throne and iudiciall seate in the braine what ministers and what secretary hee hath neere about him and in what chambers and lodgings they are placed as also what ministers and officers are ioyned with him for the execution of his iudgements and decrees namely the wil and the affections so also wee must consider what manner of lodgings and habitations are assigned to these latter sort in the heart And although these officers and ministers are not alwayes obedient to reason but rise vp against it oftentimes and doe cleane contrary to that which it iudgeth and appointeth to be done yet by that order which God set downe they were to obey and to agree well amongst themselues as he sheweth it by the disposition of their lodgings We haue heard before that the heart and the lungs are lodged within the breast as in a strong holde and are compassed rounde about therewith for their safegard and defence But wee must note that there is a partition called Diaphragma by the Graecians which separateth the 〈◊〉 of the vital partes from the nourishing parts that are in the third belly and lodging of the body of which wee wil speake heereafter in his order This partition is aboue in respect of the naturall instruments appointed for nourishment and beneath in regard of the spirituall instruments that serue the vitall part And because it is a great rounde muscle of the breast about the ende of the neather part thereof it hath two vses of which the first and greatest is to be an instrument of breathing the second is to helpe to purge and expell the excrements of the body Next to that there is a tunicle or skinne which is very thinne and slender much like to a Spiders webbe is spread ouer the whole capacitie of the breast out of which two others proceede that diuide it throughout to the end there might be two distinct places of receipt that if a man had some great wound in one part thereof whereby the office of respiration and breathing which it hath should vtterly perish yet the other part that is vnhurt might at leastwise retaine the one halfe These skinnes serue also to couer and binde together all the vesselles and instruments contained within the breast and the former of them which hemmeth in the ribbes serueth chiefely to defend the lungs on that side where it is ioyned to the bones of the ribbes to the ende they shoulde not touch the bare bones when they execute their office namely when wee breathe Concerning the heart it hath for his next dwelling house a membrane or skinne called by the Graecians Pericardion which signifieth as much as if in our language wee shoulde say in a worde a compasse-heart And therefore this skinne is made of the same fashion the heart is namely very large and ample beneath but afterward it narroweth by litle and litle so that it endeth pointwise being in proportion like to a pine apple or to a pyramide which is the figure of a flame of fire Whereby it seemeth that God hath made the heart of this fashion to admonish vs that it is the place of that naturall fire which is in the body and appointed to giue it so much naturall heate as is necessary for the life thereof This skinne which is also called the litle closet of the heart is of such capacitie that it is seuered from the same on euery side as much as is requisite that his motion might in no wise be impeached Some thinke that there is some water within this vessell or some moisture like to a dew to water the heart that it shoulde not drie vp through the great heate that commeth of continuall motion in which it is without ceasing Nowe because this humour cannot be seene but onely in dead bodies there be that thinke it is made there onely after death through the exhalation and gathering together of the spirites which are there dissolued And in deede it seemeth to be a hard matter to knowe this by Anatomy because commonly it is not practised but vpon dead bodies And although a man woulde trie the experiment vpon quicke and liuing bodies yet they woulde be alwayes dead before he should come to that part or at leastwise there woulde be such a change and alteration that it would be very hard for a man to giue a right iudgement Neuerthelesse this might be knowen by cutting vp that part in some beast or other For there is alwayes some moisture found there euen before it be starke dead although indeed it cannot liue long after that part is opened But let vs returne to that which we begunne to speake of the heart which being the roote and fountaine of naturall heate disperseth it abroade by the arteries into the whole body and giueth life to euery part therof For albeit the instruments of respiration serue the voyce yet they were created principally for the hearts sake that the naturall heate which is in it might bee refreshed increased and fedde by them For this cause hath the Diuine prouidence made the lungs to be as it were the forge and shoppe of respiration to this ende that the aire without might bee sent euen to the heart for the causes and endes before spoken of For the aire that is to be brought to the heart is first prepared in the lungs to the ende it might moderate the heate of the heart and spirites and not enter in thither either too hote or too colde or in too great abundance whereby it might be damnified or quite choaked vp Therefore hath God made the flesh and substance of the lungs very light soft and spungie more then any other part of the body so that it holdeth much of the nature
of the aire and that for two notable causes For first seeing the lungs haue not their motion of themselues neither are fastned to the body to receiue motion from it it was needefull to haue them of such matter that they might bee easily mooued and followe the motion of the breast Next they will receiue the aire more easily without any violence if at any time it enter in vehemently and in great quantitie To conclude this point they are so seated in regarde of the heart that they wrappe it and clothe it both on the right side and on the left and serue to defend it against all the neighbour-bones neere about it But heere wee are to note the agreement and mutuall relation which the heart hath with the heauens in that as the first motion of the whole worlde beginneth by the heauens of which all the other motions that are in nature doe depend so the heart is that member in mans body which first receiueth life and motion and which is the wel-spring and fountaine thereof whereupon also it is the first that liueth and the last that dieth And because God hath created it to put into it the vital facultie and vertue from whence the life of liuing creatures proceedeth hee hath also appointed the arteries who receiuing their originall from the heart are afterward distributed and spread throughout all the members of the body as the sinewes and veines are to giue vnto the aire and vitall spirites necessary for life euen as the blood is likewise distributed by meanes of the veines that come from the liuer to nourish them withall and as sense and motion are carried by the sinewes that are deriued from the braine and marrowe of the backe bone as wee haue already shewed Therefore as the aire hath his motion and the windes their course euen such as GOD hath appointed them in the whole body of this great worlde so wee see that the ayre and vitall spirites are in mans body which is the little worlde as windes that haue their course and passages therein to bee carried vnto all the members and to be distributed and communicated vnto them by meanes of the arteries Hereof it is that they heaue and beate in those places where arteries are appointed to be so that by their peace and quietnesse Physitions iudge of the vertue and strength of the heart and consequently of the whole body of health and sickenesse of life and death and of the whole position thereof Therefore the heart hath a double motion to serue for this vse which I speake because it hath yet a third motion and that of another nature of which wee will speake hereafter But as for this first double motion which is heere mentioned it is so called because the one is made when the heart giueth out and the other when it shrinketh in For when it extendeth it selfe foorth then is it refreshed and cooled thereby and when it gathereth inward and restraineth it selfe then doeth it expell and driue out those fuliginous and smokie excrements which otherwise woulde stifle it This two-fold motion is naturall proceeding from the proper nature of the heart and not voluntarie as that of the muscles is which is gouerned by the motion of the braine and sinewes that come from it For the heart hath his filaments or small threedes apt and conuenient for that purpose Nowe this motion serueth not onely for the vses already spoken of but also for the nourishing of the vitall spirite I meane to drawe the blood wherewith it is nourished and also to prepare foode for the lungs thereby to returne such mutuall helpe vnto them as it receiueth from them For as the lungs serue to send breath vnto it thereby to coole it and to further it in the execution of that office which it hath so the heart serueth to nourish and feede the lungs Whereby wee haue a goodly aduerticement concerning that mutuall agreement that ought to be in vs and of that reciprocall helpe which wee owe one to an other and howe wee ought to acknowledge the good turnes that are done vnto vs and doe the like againe to them according to that abilitie which euery one shall haue so to doe For if wee deale not in that sorte it will be all one with vs in humane societie as if one should separate in our body the heart from the lungs that the one might not doe his duetie towardes the other which questionlesse woulde cause the death and ouerthrowe of the whole body Moreouer wee must note that betweene these two motions of the heart nowe spoken of there is some small space in which there is a little rest and then doeth the heart restraine it selfe and drawe from all sides rounde about the aire which is drawne in by the lungs which it enioyeth and hath vse of And for this cause the heart whose flesh is hard and can hardly suffer hath three kindes of filaments called Fibres which serue for all these motions Thus you see the heart that is lorde of mans life howe hee hangeth as it were in his coffer and withdraweth himselfe into his chamber or closet being in a manner separated from the rest of the body to which he giueth life but onely that hee is ioyned thereunto by veines arteries and sinews which hee vseth as pipes some to receiue the benefites that come vnto him from others some to distribute his good things by Wherein we haue a faire resemblance of that mutuall communicating which ought to be among men For although the heart be as the fountaine of life which it imparteth to all the rest of the members and partes of the body yet can it not liue alone without those necessary helpes of the other members vnto which it is seruiceable Nowe we are to consider the substance situation and countepoize thereof with the nature and vse of the vitall spirite which shall be the matter subiect of thy discourse AMANA Of the substance situation and counterpoize of the heart of the nature and vse of the vital Spirite and of the forge vesselles and instruments thereof of the sundry doores and pipes of the heart and of their vses Chap. 38. AMANA All men howe ignorant and brutish soeuer they be cary about with them in their hearts a great testimony that they haue both a God and a Iudge who approoueth that which is good and punisheth the euill For although they neuer heard one worde of his worde yet they cannot be ignorant of this which they sensibly feele and knowe by experience in themselues that nothing but euill can befall them for euill howsoeuer it be long a comming and that they cannot feele the euill which their sinne hath brought vpon them but they will repent them for committing it and wish it had neuer bin done This is naturall Diuinitie which no body can be ignorant of Whereunto Saint Iohn leading vs saith very wel If our heart condemne vs
God is greater then our heart and knoweth all things And we see that repentance ordinarily followeth sinne and that a sinner can not but feele some heauinesse and griefe Yea nature it selfe teacheth vs when wee are displeased for some thing whereof we repent vs to strike our breast because the heart is within it as also to hang downe our eyes for shame But the vexation sadnesse and sorrowe which after the fault committed a man is striken with because of the hurt that taketh holde of him and the punishment he expecteth or endureth already serueth not but for a continuall torment vnto him as if hee were in a hell except he change his mind amend his fault and returne to God againe and so betake himselfe againe to that place and order of his which God had assigned him Beholde what good instructions we haue in our selues which ought to pricke vs forward to goodnesse and drawe vs backe from wickednesse especially our heart beareth vs certaine testimony of that which is acceptable in the sight of God Now as we haue heard that the forme thereof is aptest for the motion it hath so the substance matter whereof it is made is a kinde of flesh that hath none like it in all the other partes of the body For it is needful it should be so thicke and fast that it may the better discharge that office and duety that is laide vpon the heart On the other side it is so seated in the breast that the foundation and foote thereof is directly in the middest of it but the narrow end of it bendeth somewhat towards the left-side Which is done in regarde of two great commodities wherof the one is that it should not rush against the bones of the breast the other that it should heate the left side the more seeing the right side is holpen by the heat of the liuer which is on that side And although the left part of the heart be very bigge and hard and consequently more heauy then the right which is more subtile thinne and soft and therefore lighter neuerthelesse God hath giuen it such a counterpoize that both sides are of equall waight so that although there be no ligameÌ„t or band to tie it vnto the other parts that are neere about it yet without inclining or bending any one way more then other it hangeth in the middest of the vessell and skinne that compasseth it round about For the left part which of it owne nature is heauiest containeth in it a lighter matter namely the vitall spirite and the right side that is not so heauy hath in it a more heauy matter which is the blood Whereby wee see howe the prouidence of God hath so well framed the counterpoize that both partes are equall like to an euen and iust paire of ballance From whence also we may take a good lesson concerning the vprightnesse that ought to be in our heart and wil and in al our affections with what heart we ought to folow the ordinaÌ„ces of God that way which he showeth vs in his word how we should continue and abide stedfast therein and turne neither to the right hand nor the left as wee are often commanded in the holie Scriptures Moreouer forasmuch as the skin that coÌ„passeth the heart hath the bones of the breast on the one side the lungs on the other it was requisit that it should be of a matter so wel teÌ„pered that it might receiue no harme by the hardnes of the bones on the other side shuld not be so hard as to be able to hurt the lungs which are of as soft teÌ„der a flesh as any is in al the body Which teacheth vs sufficiently that the prouidence of God hath forgotten nothing in any respect But we must further know that there are two capacities or holow places in the heart distinguished one from another by a partition the one being on the right side the other on the left That place on the right side serueth to receiue the blood that commeth from the liuer to the heart by veines both for the nourishing of it selfe and of the lungs and for the generation of the vitall spirites whose forge and shoppe is in the other void place on the left side where the hart doth exercise his chiefe office which is to ingâ—nder the vitall spirites of the finest and thinnest blood which resolueth it selfe there as if it came of the sweate that proceedeth out of the right capacitie Now the vital spirit is as it were a most bright and liuely flame like to the celestiall nature which carrieth heat life to the whole body and is the instrument of the chief actions works therof In this left hollow place there is a great artery which is as it were the stocke of al the arteries in the body which a litle from the heart diuideth itselfe into two branches whereof the one ascendeth vpward to carry the vitall spirite into the vpper partes of the body the other which is some what bigger descendeth downeward By meanes of these arteries which are as it were the pipes of the heart the greatest benefite of all is communicated to all partes of the body Now because the arteries and veines haue neede one of an others help they meet one another are so linked and ioyned together that the arteries are seldome alone without the veines For the arteries being ioyned vnto the veines doe giue them aire and spirite which through the vitall heate stirreth the blood and helpeth to bring it to perfection and to preserue it In like manner the arteries sucke some small quantitie of blood out of the veines whereby the vitall spirite is carried sprinckled and increased Wherein wee haue againe a notable example and goodly paterne of that mutuall communicating that ought to be among men without which neither nature nor humane societie can be preserued the like also heereof wee see betweene the heart and the lungs in which there are pipes that passe from the one to the other for their mutuall helping and succouring one of an other For the Arteriall veine that proceedeth out of the right side of the hearâ— carrieth the blood to the lungs to nourish it and the veiny artery which commeth out of the left side of the heart carrieth ayre vnto it from the lungs to refresh it For after it is brought to the lungs by the artery or wind-pipe the lungs communicate the same vnto the heart Likewise by that same veiny artey the ouer-heated ayre and fumes are carried from the heart and serueth besides to carry the spirite and the arteriall blood vnto the lungs to heate them Therefore this artery is not altogether so thicke as the rest are nor so thinne as the veines to the ende it may easily enlarge or straiten it selfe or giue and receiue the ayre and that through hardnesse it hinder not the motion of the lungs as also
euil must of necessitie be fled from And of this naturall inclination to good proceede all those affections of the soule that draw it hither and thither to seeke for it but because of her badde iudgement proceeding of the darkenesse of ignorance which is in the minde she chooseth oftentimes the cleane contrary to that which she desireth as we haue already touched We call then properly by the name of affections the motions and acts of that naturall power of the soule which consisteth in following after good eschewing of euil For receiuing of God in our first creation to be to be wel we haue still some naturall seedes of the perfection of these two great gifts which teach vs naturally that it is a good thing for one to preserue himselfe and his beeing as also to be wel and happy in his beeing but this is only generally For wheÌ„ we are to come from these generalities vnto particulars there are wonderful errors and disorders throughout the whole course of mans life Now among the motions of the soule some go before iudgement others follow after although oftentimes they are so sodaine headstrong withall that it appeareth plainly they haue shaken off the bridle neuer expected staied for any iudgemeÌ„t Notwithstanding it is true that the hart is not moued before there hath bin some iudgement to determine whether that which is then offred vnto it be good or euil But bicause the motions of our spirit mind are very light sodain and need not so long time as otherwise is requisit for vs if wee will take good heede to our matters hereof it is that they seem to vs many times to preuent goe before iudgement giuen when indeed they follow it And as for those naturall motions which in truth go before it they are such as are bred borne of the disposition of the body as the desire to eate in hunger and to drinke in thirst sorrow in time of sickenes or the motion of a melancholike humor or ioy proceeding from good and pure blood in the heart But the other motions follow the aduice of iudgement as that is mooued and changed diuersly by such meanes as haue alreadie bin declared so the affections alter and increase or decrease or otherwise vanish cleane away and come to nothing Whereof it followeth that they are appeased by the same meanes by which they are moued according as they are applied vnto them But although it behooueth that the affections should be pricked forward by iudgement yet it followeth not thereupon that they can not be stirred vp except this mature ripe iudgement be alwaies there which ordaineth things to be done after the discourse of reason For it is enough for them if they haue another iudgement that obserueth not such an exact diligent examination but onely that which fantasie offereth without any other discoursing And this iudgement thus moued by fancie is most vsual ordinary and that which most guideth ruleth the affections of men Therfore it is a sodain tumultuous iudgement of which a man may truly say a short sentence of a sottish iudge Thus fancie being very turbulent skittish drawing to it selfe confusedly some shew and apparance of opinion iudgement whereby it deemeth that which is offred vnto it to be either good or bad is the cause that wee liue in the middest of marueilous troubles in respect of our affections of feare of desire of sorrow of ioy and that one while we weep and sodainly we laugh againe And because it hath great power ouer the body as wee haue already declared these perturbations doe manifestly incline that way We see also by experience that there is great agreement betweene the qualities and temperature of the body and the affections of the soule insomuch that as the bodies of men are compounded of the qualities of heate colde moisture and drienesse so among the affections some are hote others colde some moist others drie some mingled of these diuers qualities So that euery one is most subiect to those affections that come neerest to the nature temperature complexion of his body As for example the affection of ioy is hote and moist therefore they that are hot and moist as children yong men sound and healthy folkes and idle persons are more easily inclined to that affection Contrariwise sorrow is a colde and drie affection and therefore they that are colde and drie are most giuen to that affection and such are olde folkes and they that are of a melancholy humour which is earthy cold and drie For the like reason they that haue a soft and tender heart receiue more easily the impression of ioy and griefe as wax taketh the print of a seale and they that haue a haâ—d and hote heart quickly receiue ioy keep it a long time And on the other side they that haue hard and cold hearts receiue sorrowe and grieâ—e very soone and retaine it long as appeareth in melancholy and melancholike persons And as the affections followe the temperature and complexion of the body so they for their parts haue great vertue and power ouer the body Therefore we see that ioy is as it were a medicine to the body and foode to the naturall heate and moisture in which two qualities life chiefely consisteth as we haue already heard For it greatly preserueth and increaseth them forasmuch as it strengtheneth the animall and naturall vertues stirreth vp the spirites helpeth digestion and generally profiteth the habite and disposition of the whole body For the heart thereby sendeth with the blood much naturall heate and more spirites vnto all parts of the body By meanes whereof the members are watred and moistned by the humiditie contained in the fountaine of blood whereupon it followeth that all the partes increase in bignesse and waxe fatte For this cause Physicions alwayes exhort sicke persons to be as merry as they may and to auoide sorrowe and sadnesse which being colde and drie is contrary to life and so consumeth men For it drieth vp the whole body because the heart thereby is closed vp and restrained so that no great quantitie of spirites can bee made there and those fewe that are there can not easily bee distributed and dispersed with the blood throughout the members Whereupon the vitall vertue and her companions being weakened the liuely colour of the face waxeth wanne and pale and in a manner vanisheth cleane away and so consequently the whole bodie becommeth leane and consumeth as if it tooke no nourishment yea death oftentimes followeth thereupon This agreement therefore which is as we see betweene the temperature and complexion of the body the affections of the soule ought to teach vs to be very temperate in our eating and drinking and in all other things belonging to our life For as wee arre either temperate or intemperate so will the qualities be whereof our bodies are
so some of them are brideled and restrained by others For the first enuy hatâ—ed and anger spring of loue For they are motions of the heart that loueth against him that hateth or hurteth her who is deâ—re or beloued And desire riseth of reuenge and the ioy that commeth thereby proceede from anger and malice If a man loue any thing he wisheth it would come and hopeth also that he shall enioy it and contrariwise hee feareth that it will not come to passe If it come to passe hee reioyceth If it come not to passe when hee thinketh it will or when hee expecteth it he is grieued In like manner great ioy is lessened through greefe and enuy through mercy or through feare And one greefe altereth another when it is greater and feare maketh griefe to be forgotten and causeth the lame to runne To be short these sundry motions of affections are like to stormy waues and billowes which being driuen one of another doe either augment or diminish or wholy oppresse one another Wherefore the like happeneth in the motion of our affections that commeth to passe in a sedition and ciuill dissention in which no man considereth who is the worthier person to obey and folow him but who is the stronger and most mighty So in the fight of the affections there is no respect had to that which is most iust but only to that which is strongest and most violent and which hath gotten such power ouer the soule that it hath wholly subdued her to it selfe which thing wee ought to stand in great feare of But whatsoeuer affections are in vs there is alwayes some griefe or some ioy ioyned with them Therefore following our matter it shal be good for vs to consider particularly of the nature of these two contrary motions of which ioy serueth greatly for the preseruation of life but griefe drieth vp and consumeth the heart euen vnto the death of it as wee shall now learne of ACHITOB. That Ioy or Griefe are alwayes ioyned to the affections and what Ioy and Griefe are properly Chap. 44. ACHITOB. The knowledge of the Affections of the heart and soule is very necessary for euery one because they are very euill and dangerous diseases in the soule but yet being knowen they may be cured more easily This cause hath mooued vs after wee haue spoken of the heart and of the naturall motion thereof and of the vse it hath in this life of the body to enter into the consideration of a second motion it hath which serueth not onely for this corporall life but also for that spirituall life in regard of which it was chiefely giuen and of which we saide that there was as it were an image and representation thereof in the first motion Now we shall better vnderstand this by the subiect of this discourse propounded vnto vs being handled particularly as wee intend to doe For as by the first naturall motion of the heart it receiueth such refreshing as is necessary for the sending of life vnto the whole body and for the maintenance and preseruation of the same as also for the expelling and driuing out of all such things as might hurt and stifle it euen so is it in this second motion as farre as wee can conceiue of the nature of it For seeing God hath appointed ioy as a meanes to preserue life hee hath likewise put this affection in the heart whereby it is as it were enlarged to receiue within it selfe and to embrace all Good that is offered vnto it as also it restraineth and shutteth it selfe vp through griefe which is contrary thereunto Moreouer wee shall finde that there is no affection in vs which is not intermingled with some griefe or else with some ioy For seeing the heart is the proper seate and instrument of all the affections when it is as it were stricken and beaten with some vnpleasant thing that is offered vnto it then doeth it retire close vp it selfe and feele griefe as if it had receiued a wound then doeth it flie from the thing it liketh not Yea the heart doeth alwayes either enlarge or shut vp it selfe according to those affections that are within it the causes of which are in it owne nature God hauing so disposed and willed the same for the reasons which we haue already touched For if the heart be ioyfull the ioy that it hath doeth bring so great pleasure vnto it that thereby it is opened and enlarged as if it would receiue imbrace and lay holde vpon that thing which reioyceth it and bringeth vnto it that pleasure which it hath in this ioy Nowe because there is ioy in loue and hope the blood and spirites are gently and mildely dispersed by their moouings by reason of the reioycing at the Good that is present or that is expected as if it were already present And forasmuch as such motions are made by the enlarging of the heart whereby we embrace the thing offered vnto vs the face also appeareth smiling cheerefull and ruddy For a man may easily iudge that the obiect presented to the heart mooueth that power whereby it is stirred vp because that before the heart doth mooue it selfe it must know the thing that offereth occasion vnto it to be moued either with ioy or griefe or some such like affection For as wee haue learned already the outward senses do first perceiue the things that are offered vnto them and then they present them vnto the common sense which presently by a singular prouidence of God sendeth them to al the other senses and to al those powers that are in the sundry parts of the soule and body This done if there be matter of ioy the heart being striken with that which is acceptable vnto it enlargeth it selfe and being thus gently enlarged as it were to embrace the same it disperseth much naturall heate with the blood besides great quantitie of spirites of which it sendeth a good portion to the face if the ioy be so great that it mooueth a man to hearty laughter For the face it selfe is in some sort blowen vp and enlarged the forehead is made cleere and smoothe the eyes glister and shine the cheekes become ruddy and the lippes gather in themselues In a worde the heart doeth so enlarge it selfe that it is represented in the face as it were in a glasse or in an image framed to expresse the ioy and gladnes which it hath Moreouer experience teacheth vs sufficiently what difference there is between a cheerfull and a sad countenance Therfore when we loue one wee embrace him as if wee woulde ioyne him to our selues and put him into our bosome and heart as some deere and very pretious thing Which wee see chiefly in mothers when they holde their little infants betweene their armes and embrace them with great affection of heart For this cause Saint Paul being desirous to let the Corinthians vnderstand what good will hee bare them howe louing ready and
cheerefull his affection was towards them what ioy he receiued thereby as himselfe speaking plainly doth with his mouth giue full testimony of his heart writeth thus vnto them O Corinthians our mouth is open vnto you our heart is made large you are not kept straite in vs. And then complaining of them that their heart was not so bent towardes him he saieth But ye are kept straite in your owne bowels And heere we may note that by this worde Bowels is meant generally all the internall members and parts of man especially the heart and those that are next vnto it Now because the heart is the seate of the affections and the other members neere vnto it serue for his vse therefore the bowels are taken in the holy Scriptures for all the motions of the heart and for all the affections of men that proceed from it but chiefly for loue also for ioy pitie and compassion which haue their beginning from loue whose nature is to open the heart which in steade of opening shutteth vp it selfe against those that are not loued or that a man hateth Therefore as loue or hatred is great or small hote or cold so doth the heart open or close it selfe Hereof it is saide in the historie of the two women that stoode before Salomons iudgement seat about their two children whereof the one was dead and the other aliue that the bowels of the true mother were mooued towardes her childe And Saint Paul exhorting the Colossians to charitie and compassion saieth Now therefore as the elect of God holy and beloued put on the bowels of mercy that is to say of tender affection kindnesse humblenesse of minde meekenesse long suffering forbearing one another and forgiuing one another if any man haue a quarrell to another euen as Christ forgaue you so doe ye And aboue all these things put on loue which is the bond of perfectnesse and let the peace of God namely that which God hath established among his rule in your hearts to the which ye are called in one body and be gracious or amiable We see here what vertues accompany these bowels of mercy of which hee spake in the beginning as in deed al thâ—se vertues and heauenly gifts are so knit together that they cannot be separated one from an other And Saint Iohn speaking of that liberalitie and loue which ought to be among Christians saieth Whosoeuer hath this worldes good and seeth his brother haue neede and shutteth vp his bowels from him how dwelleth the loue of God in him Then he addeth Let vs not loue in worde neither in tongue onely but in worke and in trueth And to this purpose Esaias saith If thou powre out thy soule to the hungry and refresh the troubled soule then shall thy light spring out in the darkenesse and thy darkenesse shal be as the noone-day All which places agree very well to that which wee haue touched concerning the motion of the heart whereby it is either opened or closed vp as the affections are disposed that mooue it But let vs consider more narrowly the nature of these affections of ioy and sorrowe and what difference is betweene them seeing we haue taken them for the ground of our speach For the first let vs know that ioy is properly a motion or an affection of the heart whereby it taketh pleasure and stayeth it selfe in that Good which is offered vnto it or if wee had rather thus it is a motion of the soule proceeding from the iudgement of some Good which is already present or certainely neere at hand And therefore when the heart is enlarged therewith not onely laughter is bred but all the body also leapeth when the ioy is so great that the breast cannot containe nor keepe in the heart But when the ioy is moderate it purgeth the blood by heate it confirmeth health and bringeth with it a liuely and vigorous heate which is very wholsome and acceptable to the heart True it is that the heart and will often deceiue themselues in the choice and election of that which is Good whether it be that following reason and iudgement corrupted which should shew what is Good they embrace their errour or whether it be that Will being corrupted of it selfe through sinne letteth loose the bridle against the iudgement of reason and so suffereth her selfe to be carried headlong by her euill affections in following some false shewe of good Whereupon it commonly commeth to passe that in steade of ioy which the heart should receiue of Good vnto which the will tendeth naturally it receiueth great sorrow and griefe after knowledge taken of the fault This is the cause why we are so often admonished by the spirite of God to renounce our owne sense reason prudence and wisedome and to submit our selues wholly to the counsaile and wisedome of God and to iudge of good and of euill of the true and false Goods according to his iudgement and not according to our owne as also to renounce our owne desires to followe his will As for griefe or sorrow wee may iudge of this affection by the contrary which is ioy namely that it is a motion and an affection of the heart whereby it is restrained and pressed either with some present euill or with some that is in a manner present which displeaseth the heart as if it had receiued some grieuous wound Therefore it trembleth and languisheth as a sicke body who drying vp with griefe by little and little in the end dicth except hee haue some remedy against his sickenesse For the like happeneth to the heart of man through griefe as long as it is within it insomuch that it neuer forsaketh it vntil it hath quite dried vp and consumed the same And therefore as there is pleasure and rest in ioy so in sorrow there is dolour and torment For it ingendreth melancholy and melancholy ingendreth it and increaseth it more so that wee often see melancholy men very sadde although no harme hath befallen them neither can they giue any reason of their heauines Moreouer this blacke melancholy humor is of this nature that it will make the spirit and mind darkish whereby it groweth to be blockish the heart looseth all his cheerefulnes And because the braine is cooled thereby it waxeth very heauy drowsie Now when griefe is in great measure it bringeth withal a kind of loathing tediousnes which causeth a man to hate to be weary of all things euen of the light and of a mans selfe so that he shal take pleasure in nothing but in his melancholy in feeding himselfe therewithall in plunging himselfe deeper into it and in refusing of all ioy and consolation To conclude some growe so farre as to hate themselues and so fall to dispaire yea many kill and destroy themselues And as the heart by enlarging it selfe with ioy appeareth in the countenance so doeth it also in sorrow and griefe For as
hope maketh not ashamed because the loue of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the holy Ghost which is giuen vnto vs as if he should say that they which stay themselues vpon such a hope shal neuer be ashamed nor deceiued For the expectation thereof is neuer frustrated but it hath alwaies a good a happy issue For when we perceiue that we are deceiued of our hope we are ashamed and confounded But this neuer hapneth to true hope which proceedeth of a sound faith in Iesus Christ by means whereof we haue accesse through him vnto this grace wherein wee stand and reioyce vnder the hope of the glory of God as Saint Paul said alitle before Therefore he exhorteth christiaÌ„s to reioice in hope calleth God the God of Hope praying that he would fil the Romans with al ioy peace in belieuing that they may abound in hope through the power of the holy ghost And in the epistle to the Hebrews hope is compared to a sure and stedfast ancre of the soule For this cause God is so often called in the holy Scriptures the hope and fortresse of his people and of his It is written also that they which hope in the Lord do reioyce For hee that hopeth in him shal be healed and preserued Therefore it is not without cause that the spirite of God so often repeateth vnto vs this sentence Blessed are they that put their trust in the Lord for they shal neuer be confounded It is better to hope in him then to put any confidence in Princes But vnfaithful and wicked men can neuer be partakers of such a Good because they haue no such hope For it is written The expectation of the iust is gladnesse but the hope of the wicked shall perish And againe The hope of the hypocrite shall perish his confidence shal be cut off and his truct shall be as the house of a spider He shall leane vpon his house but it shall not stand he shall holde him fast by it yet shall it not endure But to prosecuâ—e our matter nowe that wee haue seene the hope of good men together with their ioy let vs consider what remaineth to the wicked of their vaine and false ioy namely Feare which is the second kinde of sorrowe mentioned by vs. Tell vs then AMANA what Feare is with the nature and effectes thereof Of Feare and of the nature and effects thereof towards the body the minde and soule and how it troubleth them of the true harnesse and armour against Feare Chap. 46. AMANA As wicked men can haue no certaine hope of any good they looke for so they neuer haue any true ioy of any present good because they alwayes forsake the true Good and stay in that which is not Good but in their opinion and fantasie neither doe they at any time refâ—rre the ende of good things vnto God but looke onely vpon the things themselues Therefore it is neuer in their power to reioice in that ioy which they accompt to be their true ioy but only by offending God as we heard before Which is the cause why they seek after nothing more then to hide themselues to depart from him as much as they can possible so that they would neuer heare any speech of him but desire to bury the remembrance of him for euer because they can heare nothing spoken of him but as of their iudge neither think of him but he awakeneth their coÌ„science which they labor with might and maine to rocke asleepe Wherein they take a cleane contrary course to that which they ought to follow to obtaine the true Good For seeing God is the soueraigne Good of all creatures what Good can they finde that is greater wherein they can fully reioyce and satisfie themselues Or what other Good dare they promise to themselues to finde without him and when they haue him for their enemy But they are like to drunken men who cannot vnderstand this Diuinitie vntill they haue slept out their wine and are awaked out of their drunkennesse Then shall they knowe what is true and false Ioy what is good and badde Hope when their ioy shall bee turned into sorrowe their expectation and hope into feare and terrour wherewith the wicked shall be continually haunted as the Spirite of God teacheth vs. Nowe as sorrow is a griefe for some euil which a man presently feeleth shutting vp the heart as vnwilling to receiue it so feare is a sorrow which the heart conceiueth of some looked for euill that may come vnto it Therefore it restraineth the heart also and closeth it vp as being desirous to auoide the euill Wee see then that there is the same difference betwixt sorrowe and feare in respect of euill that is betweene Ioy and Hope in regarde of Good So that we may well say that Feare is not onely a fantasie and imagination of euill approching or a perturbation of the soule proceeding from the opinion it hath of some euill to come but it is also a contraction and closing vp of the heart which commeth from that which euery one iudgeth to be euill for himselfe when hee thinketh it is at hand and will light vpon him Therefore first of all it draweth in and shutteth vp the heart and so weakneth the same Whereupon nature being desirous to relieue and succour it sendeth heate vnto it from the vpper partes and if that bee not sufficient shee draweth away that heate also which is in the neather parts By which doing she sodainely calleth backe the blood and spirites vnto the heart and then followeth a generall palenesse and cold in all the outward partes and chiefly in the face with a shiuering throughout the whole body For seeing the first moouing thereof is in the heart the other alwayes followeth so that when the heart trembleth the whole body doth so likewise Whereupon it followeth that by reason of the great beating and panting of the heart the tongue faltereth and the voice is interrupted Yea it commeth to passe sometimes that present death followeth a great and sodaine feare because al the blood retiring to the heart choaketh it and vtterly extinguisheth naturall heate and the spirites so that death must needes ensue thereof Therefore we cannot doubt but that feare hath greaâ— power ouer all the body and ouer life it selfe For this cause Esaias after he had denounced the iudgement of God against the Babylonians the comming of the Medes and Persians by whome their citie shoulde be taken and themselues slaine saieth thus Therefore shall all handes be weakened and all mens hearts shall melt which is as much to say as that their hearts shall faile them for feare And therefore hee addeth They shal be afraid anguish sorrow shall take them and they shall haue paine as a woman that trauaileth euery one shal be amased at his neighbour their faces shal be like flames of fire But here we
afraide what man can do vnto me In the feare of the Lorde saith the wise man there is assured strength and his children shall haue hope Therefore Iesus Christ saieth to his Disciples Let not your heart bee troubled And then hee sheweth them the meanes saying Ye beleeue in God beleeue also in me For nothing but faith in God through Iesus Christ is able to giue vs this assurance On the other side if wee be not armed with the feare of GOD and with true faith that wee may be certaine of his helpe and prouidence and of his loue towards vs there is nothing that can assure vs but rather that which is written in the Lawe will befall vs I will saieth the Lorde send a faintnesse into their heartes in the land of their enemies and the sound of a leafe shaken shall chase them and They shall flee as fleeing from a sworde and they shall fall no man pursuing them And in an other place where mention is made of them that despise the Lawe of GOD and rebell against the Lorde it is saide The Lord shall giue thee a trembling heart and looking to returne till thine eies fall out and a sorrowfull mind Thy life shall hang before thee thou shalt feare both night and day and shalt haue none assurance of thy life In the morning thou shalt say would God it were euening and at euening thou shalt say woulde God it were morning for the feare of thine heart which thou shalt feare and for the sight of thine eies which thou shalt see Therefore when wee see that in many great and dangerous affaires the boldest and most couragious are oftentimes the greatest cowardes and most astonished and carried away with feare and terrour and euen many times without any great cause are amased and voyde of counsaile whereas contrariwise cowardes by nature growe to bee most hardy in the middest of dangers thereby GOD sheweth very well whether strength and courage come from him or from men and who is to haue the praise thereof But nowe that wee haue seene the first motions of the heart in the affections of ioy of sorrowe of hope and of feare and knowe that they haue respect to good or euill either present or to come let vs learne in the next place that as contemplation consisteth in the rest of the Spirite after the discourse of reason and iudgement so after the heart hath the fruition of that Good which belongeth vnto it it is still and quiet resting it selfe therein which rest is called Delight or pleasure of which the order of our speech requireth that thou shouldest dilate ARAM at this present Of the delight and pleasure that followeth euery ioy and of the moderation that is required therein of diuers degrees of pleasures and howe men abuse them especially those pleasures which are receiued by the corporall senses Chap. 47. ARAM. It is certaine that all the affections which God hath placed in the nature of man were giuen vnto him in regarde of so many good things which were meete and conuenient for his will to long after and to desire For ioy and hope which affoord pleasure and consolation to the heart were bestowed vpon him to bee spurres and sollicitours to induce him to seeke after God his soueraigne Good in whom alone he may finde all delight rest and pleasure As for sorow and feare they are sure testimonies vnto men of the iudgement of God and executioners of his vengeance to this end that the feare of euill which may come vnto them should keepe them in awe and that sorow and griefe for euill which they haue already committed should be vnto them both hangman and punishment It is true that these affections being naturall in euery one bring forth contrary effects both in the good and in the bad For the children of God neuer separate his power from his goodnesse and the feare which they haue of him is not ioyned with hatred but with trust in his mercie which mooueth them to be grieued for offending him and to loue him to seeke him and to reioyce in him and to haue him in singuler honour and veneration But the wicked who feare and tremble like to malefactors fearing their iudge hate and despite God desiring nothing more then to escape his hands and to flee from him as farre as they can If they be grieued it is because they may not enioy false ioyes and vnlawfull pleasures Therefore that which is giuen them for Good is turned by them into sinne and euill and pleasure into paine and griefe But here we must call to minde what we haue spoken already concerning the signification of this worde Good as it is commonly taken not considering whether it be true or false but onely according to that opinion which men haue of it For there are many whose fancie is sufficient to affoord them as much pleasure as if indeed they enioyed that Good which they thinke to haue We see many such fooles in the world For some are Popes or Cardinals by fantasie others Emperors or Kings and great Princes or otherwise very riche or possessours of some such great Good And yet such fantasticall fellowes are better contented and pleased with that which they thinke they haue in their foolishe imagination then they that haue them in trueth vnto whome commonly they serue for nothing but to torment them more Therefore I knowe not which of them I shoulde esteeme more foolish and fantasticall For none ought to bee taken for truely wise men and of ripe iudgement but they who knowe that all thinges in the worlde and vnder the sunne are onely vanitie as Salomon sheweth in his booke of the Preacher Therefore hee saieth thus I saide in mine heart Goe to nowe I will prooue thee with ioy therefore take thou pleasure in pleasaunt thinges and behold this also is vanitie I said of laughter thou art mad and of ioy what is this that thou doest But to goe forwarde with our matter let vs consider what delight and pleasure is so farre as men may enioy it in this life It is then a rest which the heart taketh in the enioying of some Good that it liketh euen as contemplation is the rest of the spirite after the discourse of Reason and Iudgement Now wee are to note that there is no delight and pleasure in any thing except there be some agreement betweene that part or power that receiueth pleasure and that which bringeth the same vnto it This agreement cannot bee without good proportion of the one with the other whereby there is some similitude and resemblance betweene them For this cause also the thing that bringeth delight must not exceede too much either in greatnesse or in smalnesse aboue the power which receiueth it in regarde of that part or instrument whereby the pleasure is receiued Heereupon when wee spake of the eyes and eares wee shewed that light was to bee
dispensed to the eyes and sounde to the eares in good measure and moderation For if the light bee too great the eyes cannot receiue it insomuch that they will bee hurt and offended in steade of receiuing delight On the other side if it bee too little it will not suffice them and therefore it must bee betweene both And as euery mans sight is sharper and stronger or more dull and weaker so must the light bee dispensed according to that measure The like may bee sayde of soundes in regarde of the eares and of all other thinges in respect of those sences vnto which they agree And if this moderation bee requisite for the outwarde sences it is no lesse necessary in respect of the inward senses and of all the powers of the soule Therefore as God is incomprehensible and infinite so is hee receiued with delight of that part of the soule which commeth neerest vnto his nature and which is most incomprehensible most ample and most infinite in regarde of other partes and that is the Spirite and Vnderstanding On the other side because there is no proportion or agreement in greatnesse and infinitenesse betweene GOD and the Soule shee receiueth and comprehendeth him by such meanes whereby hee may bee applied vnto her and shee made after a sort capable of him For if hee shoulde present himselfe vnto her such as hee is in his high and diuine maiestie especially man beeing in this estate wherein hee is in this mortall life shee coulde not beare so high maiestie as beeing too exceeding great for her So that insteede of receiuing pleasure ioy and delight shee shoulde not onely bee very much frighted but euen wholly ouerwhelmed and swallowed vp as a droppe of water woulde bee consumed beeyng throwen into a great fire as wee may iudge by so many examples as are in the holie Scriptures to this purpose For when God manifested himselfe to the Patriarkes hee neuer appeared vnto them in the greatnesse of his maiestie but tooke vnto him alwayes some shape and vsed such meanes as were agreeable to their nature Therefore also it is verie requisite that GOD shoulde descende and applie himselfe vnto our small capacitie to the ende wee may enioy him and his Goodes and take pleasure and delight in them For this cause hee hath not onely appointed the ministerie of his worde and Sacraments to shewe and communicate himselfe vnto vs by them applying himselfe vnto our nature and capacitie but hath also manifested himself in flesh in the person of his sonne Iesus Christ to become more like vnto vs and to drawe neerer vnto vs in our owne nature to this ende that wee might enioye him and all his benefites the better and receiue more true and entire delight in them And thus much for this poynt of the agreement that ought to bee betweene the thing that delighteth and that which receiueth pleasure Next wee are to note that a man may take pleasure by all those partes whereby hee may knowe as well by the internall as the externall senses and by all the powers of the minde and soule Whereupon it followeth that as euerie one is more or lesse addicted to any of these partes so hee delighteth most in those pleasures which hee may receiue by that part vnto which hee is most giuen Therefore wee see that the baser and more vile sort of people and such as are most rude and ignoraunt are more mooued by corporall and externall thinges which moue the bodily senses then by spirituall and high things that are more meete for the spirite and wherein it taketh greater pleasures But with prudent and wise men and such as are more spirituall it is otherwise So that as euery ones nature is more noble and excellent or more vile and abiect and according to the nature of those things wherein euery one delighteth so is the delight either more noble and excellent or more base and contemptible more pure quiet or more impure and troublesome of longer or of shorter continuance and hath moe or fewer pleasures and those either more or lesse tedious Now among those delights which a man may take by the bodily senses the basest and most abiect of all is that which is receiued by the sense of touching For as it is most earthy of all the external senses so are the pleasures that are taken by it That delight which is taken by the sense of tasting is a litle more honest and lesse contemptible and yet is it brutish enough As for the delight that may bee receiued by the sense of smelling it is very light and nothing so pleasant as the yrkesomnesse that commeth of the contrary is vnpleasant For a good smel bringeth not so great pleasure as an euill smell causeth displeasure besides that this sense of smelling is not so sharpe in man as in beasts And concerning those pleasures which a man may receiue by the eares they haue some more beautie and excellency in them For the more they holde of the nature of the ayre they are so much the lesse earthy and brutish And those which we receiue by the eyes are yet more excellent then all the rest because the eyes are of the nature of the fire which commeth neerest to the celestial nature And thus much for those pleasures which a man may receiue by the corporall senses of which the noblest and best are baser and of lesse excellency then the least of those which we may receiue by the basest parts powers of the soule For as much as the soule is more noble and more worthie then the body so much is the least thing in it greater and more magnificall then that which is most noble and most excellent in the bodie And as there are diuers degrees of pleasures according to the varietie of the externall senses and according to the difference that is betwixt them and the powers of the soule so is it betweene the powers of the soule as some of them are more noble and more diuine then others For those which appertaine to the nourishing and generatiue powers are more corporall earthy and brutish then those that belong to the vitall partes and to the heart And those that are proper to the spirite and minde are purest and best of all among which that delight that is in contemplation is the chiefest as we may iudge by that which we haue alreadie spoken Wherefore if we would consider well of all these degrees of delight and pleasure and could iudge well of them we should not be so deceiued in them as commonly we are preferring the least before the greatest the basest before the noblest those that are most earthy before them that are most heauenly and those that fade soonest before them that continue longest Besides the very enioying of euery one of them ought to suffice to make vs know their nature and the difference betweene the one and the other and how farre one is to be
him not onely manie diseases but oftentimes death it selfe Therefore although wee knewe not what hurt this affection doeth to the soule yet the euill which it bringeth to the bodie ought to bee of sufficient force to turne vs from it For it is a vice that hath woonderfull effectes in the bodie and such as are verie vnbeseeming a man For first of all when the heart is offended the blood boyleth round about it and the heart is swollen and puffed vp whereupon followeth a continuall panting and trembling of the heart and breast And when these burning flames and kindled spirites are ascended vp from the heart vnto the braine then is anger come to his perfection From hence commeth change of countenance shaking of the lippes and of the whole visage stopping of speech and such other terrible lookes to beholde more meete for a beast then for a man For this cause the Philosopher that counselled an angry man to beholde his face in a glasse had reason so to doe For hee that beholdeth his owne face and countenance when he is in choler shoulde finde matter enough to be appeased Now because anger is a griefe proceeding of the contempt of those good thinges that are in a man who thinketh that it ought not to be so therefore hee desireth to shew that they are not lightly to be esteemed of which he supposeth may be done this way by making his power knowne especially in hurting Whereupon this appetite of reuenge is engendered which is common to anger with offence hatred and enuie so that anger is alwayes mingled with sorow and with desire of reuenge And indeede reuenge is a motion of the heart whereby it doeth not onely turne aside and withdrawe it selfe from that which offendeth but laboureth withall eyther to repell it or to ouercome and vanquish it and to punish him that is the cause of it Wherefore we may note herein two motions as there are two respectes namely the one to eschew the euill that offendeth and the other to pursue with great violence him that is the authour thereof Hereof it is that some when they are angry become pale because the blood retireth vnto the heart and these are most couragious and most dangerous Others waxe redde because the blood ascendeth vp to the head therefore these are not so full of stomacke nor so much to be feared in respect of those causes which were shewed before when we spake of Feare But howsoeuer the difference is yet in anger the blood doeth not wholly goe backe vnto the heart as it doeth in feare and sorow but disperseth it selfe outwardly For the heart is as if he stroue to goe out of his hoste or campe not vnlike to a Prince or Captaine that is desirous to marche forwarde in battell aray whereupon hee sendeth foorth the blood and the spirites as his men of warre to repell the enemie which is not done without great mouing and tumult and much stirring in the heart which setteth it on fire and inflameth the blood and spirites Whereupon it followeth that by reason of this motion of the blood and of the confusion of the spirites which ensue thereof the actions and motions of all the members of the bodie are troubled But the braine is chiefly offended because that also is heated by the inflamed blood and by those burning spirites which mount vp thither by whose motion it is stirred vp and disturbed as also by the sinewes which come euen to the heart For howe hote soeuer the heart and breast are or may bee yet man abideth alwayes still and quiet if the heate pearce not vp to the braine For it falleth out herein as it doeth with a drunken bodie who is not saide to bee drunke because hee hath taken in store of wine except it ascende vp into his head and trouble his braine and senses Heereof it is that vehement anger is often accompanied with frensinesse and with the falling sickenesse And because the heart beeing inflamed the blood and spirites also are set on fire they cause the whole bodie to tremble yea the very bones themselues For the blood that boyleth in the breast puffeth vp and thrusteth forwarde the Midriffe whereupon it followeth that the motions of angrie men are verie troublesome like vnto those of drunkardes Nowe because there are many meanes to stirre men vp to anger and wrath and seeing it is so dangerous a passion it is very needefull for vs to haue manie good remedies against it as indeede there are many to be found Although wee shoulde not stande in neede of so manie if wee woulde onelie consider who wee are and compare our selues with God and marke narowly howe many wayes wee offende him daily what causes wee giue him to bee bitterly incited and kindeled with wrath against vs and howe hee beareth with vs turning his anger into pitie and compassion towardes vs. For if wee enter into this consideration first we shall be greatly ashamed that we are angrie secondly our anger will bee easily appeased For who can despise vs as wee deserue and moue vs to anger seeing wee despise God vnto whome wee owe all honour and reuerence and whome wee ought to set at so high a price aboue all other things that we shoulde esteeme all the worlde as nothing in respect of his value And yet wee shewe plainely howe farre we are off from this seeing we stande in so little awe to offende him yea are more afraide to displease men then him Beside wee commit no offence against him in which there is not great contempt of his maiestie euen hie treason against his diuine maiestie Whereas if wee feared loued and honoured him as wee ought to doe we shoulde rather feare to offende him then to die But there is nothing which wee care for lesse Wherefore questionlesse before him who is a terrible auenger of his contempt wee are all lost if hee shoulde pursue vs in his anger as wee deserue and as wee pursue others and not change his anger into mercie If wee consider well of these things we shall knowe what occasion we haue to swell with pride like toads and to thinke so well of our selues as we doe or to be so soone kindled with choler against them that haue offended vs wee shall know what excellencie and dignitie can be in vs that are but dust and filth whereby we should be so soone prouoked when we see our selues despised and wronged of others Moreouer when we know that we are vtterly vndone except GOD extende his grace and mercie towardes vs shall wee not in steade of anger and reuenge bee ashamed to craue pardon of him if wee continue still to bee angrie and vse no pitie and fauour towardes them that haue offended vs as we desire that God should shew fauour vnto vs And indeede what cause haue we to hope for it vpon any other condition For it is written that the Lorde will take vengeance of him
that reuengeth himselfe and will obserue his offences narrowely Forgiue thy neighbour his misdeede and when thou prayest thy sinnes shall bee forgiuen thee Shall man keepe anger against man and will hee aske remission at the Lordes handes Hee will take no pitie vpon his like and shall he demaund pardon for his sinnes Seeing hee that is but flesh keepeth his anger and yet sueth vnto God for pardon who will blot out his iniquities But this ought not to be forgottten of vs to cause vs to abstaine from all anger towards them that by offring vs iniury prouoke vs thereunto namely that we acknowledge thē to be the scourges of God to chastice our faultes which are worthy of greater punishment Thus let vs alwayes looke to the first cause of our affliction and to God who visiteth vs iustly whatsoeuer the meanes are which hee vseth and not to second causes and to the next meanes to the ende that we doe not as dogges doe which runne after the stone throwne against them that by byting it they may be reuenged of it not looking vnto him that threwe it For if we consider that the blowe giuen vnto vs commeth from God we will let the stone goe and not followe after it with anger and reuenge but turne vnto God who threwe it not to stirre vp our selues to despite him or to bee auenged of him but to craue for pardon and grace at his handes And this is the right way which wee are to take for the quenching of our choler that so wee may bridle our anger and keepe our selues quiet Nowe for the ende of this matter it remayneth that wee shoulde knowe whether this affection bee altogether vicious and wholly proceeding from our corrupt nature or whether it haue within it any seede of vertue as well as the rest It is certaine that it is giuen of GOD to man to stirre him vp to the desire of excellent things to the ende that when hee seeth himselfe despised and reiected for base actions and abiect things and is grieued for the same hee shoulde endeuour to leaue and forsake them and to addict himselfe to better and more noble things which can not bee contemned nor hee despised in regarde of them And this kinde of anger is verie good For beeing angrie in this sort our anger is turned vpon our selues onely to blame and reprehende our selues for our slouth and loosenesse and for our other vices and imperfections and by this meanes our anger should not bee sinne but being acceptable vnto God it woulde be vnto vs a Schoolemaster and as a spurre to sollicite and perswade vs vnto vertue and to such things as beseeme vs and that estate whereunto we are called If then wee would be angrie according to the will of God let vs first be angrie against our selues for our faultes and imperfections and when wee haue iust occasion to whet our selues against others let our anger bee turned against their vices not against their persons And such an anger will shewe zeale for the honour of God and the saluation of our neighbours Nowe the sequele of our speech requireth that wee shoulde speake of hatred and of enuie which for the most part followe offence and anger Let vs then heare ACHITOB discourse of these affections Of Hatred and of the nature and effects thereof of a good kinde of Hatred and of the remedy to cure the euill Hatred of Enuy and of the kindes and effects thereof of the difference betweene good and euill Enuy. Chap. 56. ACHITOB. Forasmuch as nature wisedome and goodnes teach that men ought to be knit together by loue as wee haue seene heretofore and that we are by the selfe same nature framed and fashioned thereunto as wee may learne by that which we haue heard of the forme and disposition of the heart wee must needes confesse that the spirite of man can bring foorth nothing more vnworthy it selfe then to suffer it selfe to be ouercome of Hatred and Enuy which are so contrary to loue that they comprehend vnder them all generall iniustice and wickednesse of men For from these wilde plants nothing can proceede by reason of the corruption of mans nature but effects that draw vs cleane contrary from wishing well to our neighbour So that if we plucke out of our heart the cause of this naturall obligation concerning the succour we owe one to another namely Loue what can be either found or placed there but hardnesse inhumanitie crueltie and all kinde of barbarousnesse which are to bee accompted and taken for monsters in mans nature For howe strange and monstrous a thing were it to vnclothe a mans heart of Loue and to put vpon it hatred enuy extreame backebiting bitternesse and crueltie which proceede all from one fountaine Neuerthelesse we see that men are enclined rather to Hatred then to Loue but let vs search out the cause thereof There are many that take Hatred to be an inueterate anger because it is a habite of anger wherby the heart escheweth something as euil and desireth to repell and driue it away Wherefore this affection is directly contrary to loue so likewise is anger For it is an offence rooted in the hart which causeth it to wish greatly his hurt by whom it taketh it selfe to be offended Nowe because contempt doeth often accompany hatred and enuy is neuer without it besides that it breedeth strife contentions manslaughters and murthers therefore in the holy Scriptures hatred is often taken for all these things As for the vehement causes of hatred they are in euery one according as a man esteemeth of the things he hateth Therefore prowd and enuious persons are alwaies very much enclined to hatred Some men also are of such a hatefull nature that they scarce wish wel to any body and surely these are very deuillish natures Some likewise are giuen thereunto of custome which they haue gotten by reioicing at other mens harms But the cause why it is easier for vs to hate then to loue and why Hatred taketh deeper roote in our heart then loue is because hatred findeth a better soile there and a more apt foundation to bee laide vpon then loue doth and that chiefly for two reasons The first is the corruption of mans nature which being left vnto it selfe fauoureth more of the nature of Satan who is hatefull a lyar and enuious from the beginning then of the nature of God who is loue trueth and charitie Therefore Saint Iohn saith that Cain hated his brother and slewe him because he was of the deuill and Abel was of God This hatred will be alwayes in those that haue one and the same Father that Cain had against all good men and children of God The second is because the infirmitie of our nature will not permit vs to enioy any good things in this worlde that are pure and of long continuance and therefore they suffer vs to haue but a little sense and taste of them But
treatise of these two affections The end of the seuenth dayes worke THE EIGHT dayes worke Of Iealousie and of the kindes thereof howe it may be either a vice or a vertue howe true zeale true iealousie and indignation proceede of loue of their natures and why these affections are giuen to man Chap. 57. ASER The holy Scripture applying it selfe to the capacitie of mans vnderstanding describeth mens affections oftentimes by those testimonies which their outward members affoorde conuincing them of vices rooted in their heart by the carriage of their eies of their eie-liddes of their forehead and of their whole countenance Which is to this ende chiefly that when they know that men may reade one in anothers face as it were in a Booke that which is couered and hidden in the heart they shoulde perswade themselues that God soundeth and seeth more easily the most secret thoughts of their heartes and that they can hide nothing from him Likewise the holy spirite to condescend to our rudenesse and to teach vs to knowe God by our selues not onely by our soule which we see not but also by our body which wee see speaketh often of his high infinite and incomprehensible maiestie as it were of a man attributing vnto him eies eares a nose a mouth armes legges feete hands a heart and bowelles Moreouer albeit this pure simple and eternal essence be in no wise passionated with affections yet the same heauenly word doth not only attribute vnto him wrath reuenge anger iealousie and other affections but doth oftentimes propound him vnto vs as an yrefull man hauing the face behauiour and whole countenance of one greatly stirred vp to wrath reuenge yea euen to great fury Which is done to this end both that by the knowledge which we may haue of the nature of these affections whereunto wee are enclined and of the effectes which they bring foorth and causes from whence they proceede wee shoulde meditate the same things to bee in God when wee offend him and knowe what rewarde wee are to looke for and also to teach vs that right rule of all our affections which wee haue in his diuine goodnesse Nowe if wee remember what hath beene declared vnto vs of the nature of Loue wee heard that true and pure loue was without iealousie and that this affection sprang of the loue of concupiscence and yet it was tolde vs yesterday that Iealousie was placed amongst the kindes of enuy Let vs then see what this affection is properly and whether all iealousie be vicious I vnderstand by Iealousie a feare which a man hath lest an other whome hee woulde not should enioy something This commeth to passe two wayes namely either because wee our selues woulde enioy it alone or else because we would haue some other to whom we wish the same thing to enioy it alone the reason heereof is because we iudge it hurtfull either to our selues or to those whome wee loue if others should enioy it As if the question were of some honour or of some other good which we would haue to our selues alone or for some one whome wee loue and should be greeued that an other enioyeth it and thereupon enuy him either because wee are afraide hee shall enioy it or because hee enioyeth it already heerein appeareth enuy and euill iealousie which bringeth with it great mischiefes For as Saint Iames saieth From whence are warres and contentions among you are they not hence euen of your lustes that fight in your members yee lust and haue not ye enuy and are iealous or haue indignation and can not obtaine ye fight and warre and gâ—t nothing Wherefore to auoide this enuy and euill iealousie wee must consider of what nature that Good is which stirreth vs vp to this affection For according to the nature thereof our iealousie may be either a vice or a vertue For if the question be of some Good thing which belongeth in such sort to mee alone or to any other whome I loue that none may enioy it except it be vniustly and to the dishonour of God it is no euill iealousie if I feare lest any shoulde abuse it or bee grieued when it falleth out so If it concerneth some body whome I lâ—â—ue who is abused by another to the displeasure of God and to the dishonour and hurt of the party beloued I haue yet greater occasion to feare to bee greeued and euen to bee iealous both ouer my owne Good and ouer the good of the partie beloued And as I haue iust cause of Iealousie in this case in that thing which properly belongeth vnto mee so also I haue like occasion when an other vniustly enioyeth that Good which belongeth to him whome I loue and of whome I ought to bee carefull and be greeued when any reproch or wrong is offered vnto him As for example seeing the husband hath such an interest in his wife and the wife in her husband as no other eyther may or ought to haue the like both of them haue iust cause to beware that no other haue the fruition heereof but themselues to take the matter heauily if it fall out otherwise and to bee very much offended and full of indignation against him that shoulde attempt any such thing For that can not be done as not without the great dishonour and dammage of the parties so knit together so also not without the great dishonour of GOD whose lawe and couenant is thereby violated On the other side that mutuall loue which ought to be betwixt the husband and the wife doth binde them to desire and to procure the honour and profite eache of other and to keepe backe all dishonour and hurt that may befall them Wherefore both of them haue iust cause to bee offended with those that seeke to procure any blemish in this respect The like may bee saide of fathers mothers and children and of all that haue anie charge ouer others or that are linked together by friendship But on the other side a man must beware that he be not too suspicious and that hee carry not within himselfe matter of Iealousie and so torment himselfe and others without cause as likewise hee must bee very carefull that hee giue no occasion of Iealousie to any other And thus you see howe there may be a good iealousie notwithstanding that in this case it be mingled with loue and anger For Iealousie causeth the party that loueth to be angry with him by whome that thing which hee doeth loue receiueth any dishonour or detriment Therefore this anger commeth of loue which inciteth him to set himselfe against him that offendeth the thing beloued So that these affections are alwayes commendable arising of this cause and being ruled according to that Zeale and Iealousie which the holy Scripture attributeth vnto GOD in regarde of vs. For hee is called a iealous GOD not onely in regard of his honour and glory which hee will not
punishment and that findeth not a Iudge euen in him that committed it to take vengeance thereof by meanes of the affections which God hath placed in man to that ende Among which Shame occupieth a place which we ought well to consider of Concerning this affection there are some that are ashamed in regarde of some feare of dishonour of which there followeth no dammage or in respect of some griefe or perturbation of the soule arising of some thinges that seeme to bring some dishonour with them Forasmuch therefore as Shame is a feare of dishonour it is of great force in them that loue honour For the more they loue it the more doe they feare dishonour which is the contrary thereof as a very great euill And for this cause there is in Shame not onely a feare of villanie but indignation also after the committing of some fault For hee that is faulty chafeth and is angry with himselfe because of the dishonour hee receiueth through his offence And this kind of Shame is the simplest and lightest and may be called Blushing being very common especially in children and virgins Now for asmuch as herein the spirits withdraw themselues vnto the hart as vnto a center and presently as it were in the same instant returne backe againe the face is painted with a vermillion colour which is very pleasant and comely namely in that age and in those persons Therefore is this colour rightly called the colour of vertue For God hath placed this affection of shame in the nature of men to the end it should be vnto them as a bridle to stay them from committing vile things and as a Iudge and Reuenger to punish them after they haue done such things Therfore also there is yet another kind of shame more vehemēt which approcheth neare vnto the affection of anger and is mingled with wrath and feare For it is a motion of the heart in which he that feeleth himselfe guiltie of any dishonest crime or act is angry with himselfe for the same and punisheth and reuengeth himselfe vpon himselfe and withall feareth the iudgements of others and the rebuke and dishonour that may come vnto him for it For as we haue heard already God hath placed in the nature of man sundry affections of which some are sweete and pleasant to the end they should be vnto vs as it were spurres vnto vertue others are bitter and vnpleasaunt that they might bee vnto vs in steade of punishmentes and that the greefe which they bring might teach vs to knowe more cleerely what diuersitie there is betweene vertue and vice and what difference wee ought to put betweene good and euill deedes Therefore there is not a woorse thing in man nor any disease more dangerous to the soule then impudencie which is wholly contrarie to Shame and Blushing For whosoeuer is once past all Shame hee hath no care at all of his honour much lesse of the honour of GOD. Heereof it is that the holie Ghost by the Prophetes doeth greatly accuse the impudencie of the wicked saying vnto them by way of reproch that they had whoores foreheads and woulde not bee ashamed that they were impudent children and stiffe hearted and that they did glorie in their wickednesse after they had done euill in steade of being ashamed and amending their faults Nowe whereas wee sayde that Shame painteth the face with a vermilian colour wee are to knowe that the passions and affections of the soule breede great change in our bodies as they that mooue the spirits and the naturall heat by opening and shutting vp of the heart whereby the spirits are eyther inlarged or restrained Thus it commeth to passe that the colour of the face is changed it being a propertie of the heart to set in it certaine markes and signes of the affections that are in it as wee haue already heard Therefore doeth Shame paint the cheekes with rednesse because the danger that springeth of feare is of that nature that the heart standeth in neede of helpe to repell and driue it away namely of that heate that retireth backe vnto it Nowe forasmuch as there is perturbation in Shame by reason of the opinion and feare of dishonour and blame heate is drawen vp to the head and so from thence it is dispersed ouer the face And although Shame doeth not trouble the heart and minde so much as feare doeth yet doeth it confound the head and causeth it oftentimes to forget what it thought and was purposed to haue done As wee see it sometimes in very wise and skilfull men when they are to speake or to doe something before personages or companies whome they reuerence And this is incident for the most part to such as are most modest and to them that presume least of themselues who indeede can not heare their owne praises without shame and blushing such is their nature and modestie or else it is because their hearts are very litle which maketh them also fearefull Nowe although too much shamefastnesse when it is causelesse is woorthy of blame because it often keepeth them that are ouertaken therwith from doing many good things from imploying the giftes which they haue receiued of God as it becommeth them yet is it more praise-woorthy then impudency which as it maketh men altogether shameles brasenfaced so it vsually accompanieth proud arrogant persons For it is cleane contrary to modesty Seeing therfore we learn that shame is a feare of dishonour and blame and of doing that that might procure it we must take good heed that we iudge aright of that which is to bee accounted vile and dishonest and of that which may bring vnto vs honour or dishonour praise or dispraise For our nature being ful of darknes through sinne that raigneth in it our natural iudgment is not so intire and vpright as it ought to be to iudge well either of that which is truely honest and which bringeth with it honour and commendation or otherwise of the contrary vnto it Whereupon it commeth to passe that we oftentimes take one for another so light vpon that which we least sought for or desired Therfore let vs know and learne this that there is nothing honest but vertue nor any thing dishonest but vice and that as nothing is more beautifull and of greater renowme then vertue so nothing is more ilfauoured dishonourable and infamous then vice But forasmuch as there is great diuersitie of opinions what is to be accounted honest and dishonest what vertue what vice what praise what dispraise let vs learne to frame our iudgement out of the law and word of God which is the rule of all iustice and trueth Otherwise it will come to passe that we shal be oftener ashamed of well doing then of euill doing and of vertue then of vice which were a vile shame and such a one as that we ought to be greatly ashamed thereof For in well doing we must neuer
any in him that is true and sounde but onely that which is counterfeite and fayned towardes them that submit themselues vnto him through flatterie But that which is most dangerous in pride is when it is bredde of humilitie of modestie and of vertue For there are manie who considering their owne modestie and other vertues and condemning pride and other vices are delighted therewith after an insolent manner and are puffed vp with pride thereby Whereby wee see what windings and slipperie turnings are in that olde serpent the Father of pride into howe manie fashions hee changeth himselfe and in what manner hee hath infected and poysoned our heart For hee hath brought it to this passe that as venimous beastes turne all they eate howe good soeuer it bee into venime so the proude man turneth all his thoughtes wordes and deedes into pride For hee draweth and referreth euery thing to his owne honour and glorie and therefore Saint Chrysostome verie aptly compareth Vaine-glorie to a Mothe For as the mothe marreth and consumeth that cloth in which it is bredde so vaineglorie sometime springeth of vertue and afterwarde corrupteth it For there is no vertue so excellent which is not turned into vice and made abominable before GOD so soone as it is mingled therewith Seeing then pride is such an horrible monster as that which breedeth and bringeth foorth so manie other monsters wee ought to seeke diligently after all remedies for it that may possibly bee had whereby it may bee tamed and kept vnder and so our soules cured of such a dangerous disease and plague Nowe forasmuch as it proceedeth of ignoraunce and of inconsideratenesse and through the want of the due knowledge of God and of our selues wee must redresse this euill by the vertues contrarie to these vices namely by the true knowledge of God of his worde and of our selues Which wee shall obtaine if hee deale so gratiously with vs as to fill vs with his holie spirite and to giue vs an humble heart that renouncing all pride and all arrogancie wee may learne to walke in his feare and in all obedience to his holie will so that wee wholly consecrate our selues vnto him both in bodie soule and spirite in will heart and all our affections Nowe hauing spoken sufficiently of that matter into which wee fell whilest wee handeled the second bellie which God hath placed in man for the lodging of the vital partes and namely of the heart which is the seate of the affections it remaineth that we consider of the third beilie which is the seate of the naturall powers and vertues of the soule of which thou shalt beginne nowe to discourse ACHITOB. Of the naturall powers of the soule and what sundrie vertues they haue in the nourishment of the bodie of their order and offices of their agreement and necessarie vse where the Vegetatiue soule is placed in the bodie and what Vertue it hath to augment the same Chap. 60. ACHIT The dispositiō placing of the principal parts of our body of that noblest mēbers therof is a goodly schole wherin we may learne how much more carefull wee ought to be of heauen then of the earth and of the spirite then of the bodie We haue already heard how the internall partes of man were deuided into three bellies and lodgings of which the two former namely the braine and the heart together with the vertues offices and works of the soule in them haue beene declared vnto vs. It remaineth that we consider of the last lodging of the bodie which properly beareth the name of belly which is the seate of these naturall powers and vertues of the soule which we call Vegetatiue and nourishing and is diuided into three kinds namely into the vertue of nourishing of augmenting or growing and of engendring Nowe when we see this order and disposition in our nature we ought seriously to thinke that seeing God hath placed the heart betweene the head and the belly the Vitall vertue of the soule betweene the Animal and Nutritiue and the will betweene the vnderstanding and the most sensuall part in vs therefore the heart affections and will ought to looke alwayes on high and not downward to the ende they should ioyne to the most noble celestiall and diuine part and not to that which is most base sensual and earthly Whereunto that also ought to induce and leade vs which we learned before of the agreement between the highest and middlemost of these principal and more noble parts of the body vnto which this last is inferiour in all kinde of excellencie beautie and dignitie This belly of which wee are nowe to discourse containeth all the members and instruments that serue for nourishment and generation whereupon it is termed the Kitchin and Nurserie of the body and the seminary and welspring of mankinde But before we enter into a particular consideration of these members and instrumentes wee are to looke into the naturall powers of the Vegetatiue soule that is in them And first we will note that which we spake of elsewhere of the office of heate and moysture in the nature of the bodie that as moysture keepeth heate within it so heate drinketh and soaketh vp moysture as much as it may digesting and dispelling it by the vertue and action of it owne nature Now whilest this moysture is thus digested by the heate there is a separation made of that which is profitable in the bodie from that which is superfluous and consequently hurtfull to the bodie That which is profitable for it is the iuyce and humour that agreeth with it in regarde of the similitude and likenesse that is betweene them Whereupon it followeth that all moysture that is greatly diuerse or contrary to the body is hurtfull for it as also all drye matter which likewise hurteth the health and life thereof So that this vertue of the soule which we call naturall or otherwise Vegetatiue and which comprehendeth vnder it the vertue of nourishing of augmenting and of engendring euery of which hauing sixe others tending all to one ende as we heard alreadie this vertue I say causeth that which is profitable for the nourishment of the bodie first to bee distributed vnto the members and then to bee turned into the bodily substance of the liuing creature because that vertue and power of the soule doeth imbrace and receiue it acknowledging it alreadie to bee a part of the bodie Therefore the vertue of drawing nourishment that is in the soule hath for an helper the vertue of retaining and keeping vntill there bee a conuenient change thereof made by the facultie and power of digesting and as it were dressing of it For otherwise the attractiue and retentiue power were to small purpose Now when the meate is digested so much of it as is pure must bee separated from that which is impure by the vertue of purging and that which is impure must bee deliuered ouer to the
as some name them hauing regard to the diuerse actions thereof and to the sundrie degrees of concoction made therein They call the first action or degree of concoction by the name of a harth because it serueth to heate the foode as a harth doth in a kitchin The second is called a table namely when the food beginneth to gather it selfe together in the liuer and is there placed as it were vpon a table to be sent vnto the members The third action hath the name of a knife giuen vnto it because it diuideth maketh a separation of the humors And the fourth is as it were the wagoner because there is the carriage and conueiance of all from thence into the hollow veine For the naturall vertues and powers gouerne the humors very well conducting and leading them to their due places For this cause the liuer is the fountaine of blood and the spring of all the veines by which it is distributed throughout the body as the heart is the fountaine of the vital spirits the originall of the arteries whereby the spirits necessary for the body are conueied into it as the blood from the liuer Wherfore euen as the arteries are a kind of veins to carry and to distribute the aire breath and vital spirites so likewise the veines proceeding from the liuer are ordained to distribute the blood into all partes of the body These two are lincked together with such a neere alliance and agreement that the veines administer matter to the vitall spirit which is ingendred in the heart of the purest and most spiritual blood as the spirit likewise helpeth the blood by his heat in the arteries Therfore they haue mouths ioyning each to other to the end the spirit as it were a litle flame may receiue norishmēt out of the veines and that the veins may draw spirit heat from the arteries For as we haue already touched our life is much like to a flame in a lamp that receiueth food from the oile put into the lamp euen so the vital spirit which is as a flame within vs draweth taketh norishmēt from the veins Wherein we haue a goodly example of that mutual societie which we ought to haue one towards another in this life Now of those veins that deriue their originall frō the liuer there are 2. principall ones that are very great of which the others are but as it were branches that from the liuer spread thēselues vpwards downwards through all the partes of the body These two veines comming out of the liuer take their beginning from many little veines which being as it were their rootes ioyne together afterward into two trunks or great bodies that diuide themselues againe into diuers boughs branches whereof some are greater and some lesser after the maner of trees The first is called the Port-veine because it is as it were the doore of the liuer out of which it proceedeth being placed in the hollow part thereof The vse and profit of it is to receiue nourishment prepared by the stomach and guts then to keep it vntill the liuer hath turned it into pure blood for to send it afterward to all the body by the other great veine called the Caue or hollow veine And this proceedeth from the outside of the liuer resembling the body of a tree and diuiding it selfe into two great branches of which the lesser ascendeth vp to the vitall and animall parts and to the ends of them and the bigger branch descendeth downe alongst the hinder part of the liuer vpon that part of the chine bone that is betweene the kidnies and so goeth to those partes that are contained vnder them Forasmuch therefore as the arteries and veines are the principall instruments whereby the soule giueth life vnto the body some learned men expound that of the vitall and naturall parts which Salomon speaketh of the siluer coard not lengthened of the golden ewer broken of the pitcher broken at the well and of the wheele broken at the cisterne Wee haue already spoken of the siluer chaine and of the golden ewer when wee discoursed of the chine bone of the backe and of the marrowe of it Touching the residue they vnderstand by the well the liuer which is the fountaine of blood and by the pitcher the veines because they are the vesselles whereby the blood is taken out of the liuer and drawne thence that it may be distributed to all the bodie and by the cisterne is vnderstoode the heart and by the wheele the head For we may already perceiue by that which wee haue already saide of the heart howe seruiceable the liuer is vnto it considering that the heart is the fountaine of the vitall spirits and the originall of the arteries as the liuer is of the bloud and of the veines and that the vitall spirits are engendred in the heart of the purest and most spirituall bloud which it draweth and receiueth from the liuer Moreouer these vitall spirites are by meane of the heart sent vnto the braine and the head to serue the animal powers that haue their places and instruments there and to serue all the senses as well spirituall as corporall Therefore the head is aptly compared to a wheele both for the roundnesse of it as also because it draweth and receiueth the vitall spirites from the heart which sendeth them vnto it as the water is drawne from his fountaine well or cisterne by meanes of the wheele Further as it is needefull that there shoulde bee a coard to reach from the wheele downe to the well and a pitcher or bucket at the ende of the coard to drawe water withall so the arteries reaching from the heart vp to the head are like to the coarde and pitcher whereby the braine draweth vitall spirites from the heart For the great artery called Aorta by the Physicions which commeth out of the heart and is diuided into two great branches of which the one goeth vpward to carry the vitall spirite to the superiour partes and the other downeward to doe the like belowe forasmuch as it ioyneth vnto the heart may bee taken for the pitcher that draweth from thence the vitall spirites as from a well and the branch that ascendeth vpward may bee taken for the coard ioyned vnto the wheele The like may bee seene in the liuer For the great veines of it are as it were the pitcher and the veines that ascend vp vnto the head as likewise the arteries are the coarde that draweth vp the blood from out of the liuer If then wee ioyne that which wee haue already heard of the siluer chaine or coarde and of the golden ewer with that which wee speake nowe of the pitcher and of the well of the wheele and of the cisterne wee may bee well assured that Salomon hath most wisely comprehended in so small a number of wordes all the internall partes of the body and all the powers both animall
that obscure place it receiueth the goodliest and most perfect forme that can be imagined And who will not bee abashed to consider that out of that slymie seede of man there shoulde come bones sinewes flesh skinne and such like things so diuers one from another But yet it is a farre greater marueile to see all this great diuersitie of matter to bee framed in so many sundrie members and of so many sundry formes and that with such excellent beautie so profitable and so fitte for those offices that are assigned vnto them as wee haue learned in our former discourses Nowe as God did not create all creatures in one day although he coulde well haue done it if it had so pleased him so doeth he in the generation of men For albeeit that the members are fashioned all at once so that not one of them is framed before another neuerthelesse because there is great varietie betwixt them both in respect of their dignitie and of their strength nature their mother doeth not set them forwarde all alike For in displaying her power generally towards all the partes of the bodie it commeth to passe that her worke and the figure giuen vnto it appeareth sooner or later in some members more then in others Hereof it is that the greatest and chiefest members appeare naturally before the rest albeit they are not the first that are fashioned So likewise all the members are not beautified and made perfect at the same time but some after others according as they haue heate and nourishment Nature therefore obserueth this order that the worthiest partes and such as haue in them the beginning of motion shew themselues first and then those members that are profitable and seruiceable to the former and are created for their cause And according to this order the highest partes are seene sooner then the lowest and those within before them without and they that receiue their substance from the seed before those that haue it from blood These also amongest them that are most excellent are first notwithstanding many times they haue their accomplishment and perfection after the other as it appeareth in the Nauill For although the heart liuer and braine beeing the chiefest partes of the bodie haue their beginning before that yet is it the first amongest them all that appeareth perfect Nowe then after the Nauil with his pipe or passage is formed and fashioned within the first sixe dayes the blood and spirite are next drawen by those veines and arteries whereof we spake euen now to be sent to the seede and mingled therewith that the principall members might be figured as the liuer the heart and the braine which begin first like to little bladders and so consequently the rest which are fashioned by litle and litle according as they receiue nourishment For the veines whereby the burthen is nourished may well be likened to small rootes whereby plants are cherished as also the burden it selfe may bee compared vnto plants in this point as we haue alreadie learned So that the seed receiuing this forme alreadie spoken of in the first sixe dayes during which time it is called by no other name then seede nine dayes after that the blood is drawne thither of which the liuer and the heart receiue their forme so that after twelue dayes added to the former a man may discerne the lineaments and proportion of these two members and also of the braine albeit they are not then altogether fashioned At this time the burthen is called Faetus of the Latines and Embryon of the Greekes which is as much in our language as Sprouting or Budding Next after this within the space of other eighteene daies all the other members are fashioned and distinguished So that about fiue and fourty dayes after the conception the members receiue their perfect fashion and then doeth the burthen beginne to liue not onely as plants liue but also as other liuing creatures For it hath sense feeling about the sixe and thirtieth day and from that time forward it is called an infant But as yet it is voyde of motion For by and by after it is formed it is very tender vntill that by vertue of the heate it waxeth more dry and firme which is by reason that the moysture wherby it is made so soft and tender consumeth away by litle and litle so that the nayles beginne to take roote at the fingers endes and the haires in the head Now after the childe is come to the thirde moneth if it bee a male or to the fourth if it bee a female it beginneth to stirre it selfe according to the testimonie of Hippocrates because then his bones are more firme and somewhat harder But this is not alwaies alike in all women with childe For there are some that alwayes feele it stirre about the two and fourtieth day others neuer feele the same vntill the middest of the time from the conception to the birth Yea in the same woman the same time and order is not alwayes obserued For according to the strength and good complexion of the child and the nature and disposition of the mother these things change and not onely because of the sexe Neuerthelesse it is most ordinary and vsuall for male children to moue within three moneths or thereabouts as likewise to bee borne at the ninth moneth whereas females are commonly somewhat slower both in stirring and also at their birth the reason whereof is this because male children are naturally a great deale more hote then females Galen attributeth the cause of the generation of sonnes to the strength and heate of the seede and saieth that they are caried on the right side of the wombe as the daughters on the left which is the colder side as being farthest remooued from the liuer He yeldeth also this reason why some children are more like the father and some the mother because of the greater strength of seede which they haue either from the one or from the other And when it commeth to passe that the wombe receiueth seede at two sundry passages which it hath then are twinnes engendred either at one conception or at twaine so that the later bee not long after the former according to the opinion of the Philosophers and namely of Aristotle who rehearseth many examples thereof in his seuenth booke of the historie of liuing creatures saying that a whore was deliuered of two children whereof the one was like the father and the other like the adulterer But nowe wee are to consider of the childe-birth which is as wonderfull a woorke of God in nature as any other It belongeth then to thee ACHITOB to ende this dayes worke by a discourse tending to this purpose Of Child-birth and the naturall causes thereof of the great prouidence of God appearing therein of the image of our eternall natiuitie represented vnto vs in our mortall birth Chap. 72. ACHITOB. Men are of that nature that they cannot acknowledge what they
of soule spirite and heart are taken with the causes wherefore Of the diuisions of man made in the holy Scriptures as well in respect of the soule as of the bodie in what significations the names of soule spirit and heart are vsed therein and the causes why of the intire sanctification of man howe the soule is taken for the life and for the members and instruments of nourishment and for nourishment it selfe Chap. 79. ARAM. Forasmuch as God so honoureth our bodies as to call them Temples of his holie spirite I thinke they cannot bee such in deede except they bee wholly dedicated and consecrated vnto him so that wee separate them from all filthinesse and pollution by giuing our selues to all kinde of sanctimonie and honestie of life For then is the body wholly sanctified when all the senses and members applie themselues onely to good and holy woorkes commaunded by God and when they abstaine from the contrarie Whereupon it commeth to passe that the eyes turne aside from beholding all vaine things and take pleasure onely in seeing that which may rauish man with admiration at the excellencie of the woorkes of God and induce him to well-doing The like may bee sayde of soundes of voyces of wordes in regarde of the eares And as for the tongue it is not polluted with vile speeches with lying slandering and blasphemie but prayseth God and rehearseth his works and woonders speaking alwayes with a grace to the edifying of all In like manner the mouth serueth man for the selfe-same vse as the stomacke also and the bellie with all the rest of the members that serue for the nourishing of the bodie are not defiled through gluttonie and drunkennesse So that the bodie liueth not to eate but eateth to liue and to make supplie to those necessities vnto which GOD hath made it subiect Therefore it obserueth sobrietie and is contented to minister to the naturall affections that God may bee serued in this life Neither doeth it abuse the members of generation to whoredome and villanie but conteineth them within their office and lawfull vse And as for the feete and hands with all the rest of the externall members it keepeth them also within the compasse of their duety But seeing the whole body all the members therof take from the soule all their actions and vses they cannot bee sanctified for the seruice of God and of holy things vnlesse the soule be first sanctified which giueth vnto them life motion and sense For this cause Saint Paul speaking of the sanctification which he wisheth to the Thessalonians before hee maketh any mention of that of the bodie hee beginneth with the Spirite and Soule as wee haue alreadie heard Now because the soule hath diuers powers he vseth two wordes the better to note them out especially the chiefest of them For as it hath beene alreadie declared vnto vs albeit the soule hath manie powers and offices in the bodie of man yet there are not so manie soules in the bodie as there are faculties and effectes thereof but one onely soule which doeth all that For this cause the name of soule is diuersly taken in the holy scriptures Sometime it is taken for that spirituall substaunce that is ioyned with the bodie to giue life vnto it and for all the powers thereof and sometime againe for one part of those faculties and powers The like may be sayd of the name of spirite and of heart and that for the same reason Thus doeth the Scripture sometimes diuide the whole man into two partes onelie namelie into bodie and soule as when Iesus Christ sayeth Feare yee not them which kill the bodie but are not able to kill the soule but rather feare him which is able to destroy both soule and bodie in Hell And often also the same holie worde taketh the one of these two partes for the whole euen in that signification wherein wee take the name Person in our tongue For this cause wee reade so often in the worde All flesh and euerie soule for euery person Also Giue mee the Soules for giue mee the persons And all the Soules of the house for all the persons thereof Nowe because the vnderstanding and the will are the principall faculties and powers of the soule when the Scripture meaneth to set them downe distinctly and to expresse them together with the nature and vertue of the soule it taketh the spirite for the one and the soule for the other namely the spirite for the reason and vnderstanding the soule for the wil affections For otherwise how should euery man be entire souÌ„d vnles his thoughts were pure holy all his affections rightly ruled finally his whole bodie made obedient and seruiceable to euerie good woorke For wee haue hearde alreadie what Lordship is attributed to the reason and to the vnderstanding then howe the will and affections are in the middest to commaund and lastly the bodie to serue and obey So that a man is then altogether pure and sounde when he thinketh nothing in his minde desireth nothing in his heart neither executeth any thing with his members but that which pleaseth God Wee haue a place in Esay which teacheth vs verie clearely that the spirite and soule are so taken and distinguished as wee say The desire of our soule saith he is to thy name and to the remembraunce of thee With my soule haue I desired thee in the night and with my spirite within me will I seeke thee in the morning We see how first he attributeth desire to the soule thereby to declare the affection of the people towardes the Lorde Then hee maketh mention of the remembrance and memorie that hee hath of God which is in the minde So that it seemeth hee comprehendeth the vnderstanding and will in the first verse vnder the name of Soule Afteward in the verse following he distinguisheth them more specialy attributing desire to the soule then watchfulnesse and diligent inquisition to the spirit which is not without thinking and discoursing that appertayne to the minde Wherefore the Prophet minding to signifie how he was wholly addicted to the Lordè with all his senses and vnderstanding and with all his heart and will and that all his affection was towardes him hee vseth this distinction betweene the soule and the spirite Likewise wee finde these two names Soule and Spirite ioyned together in this signification in the Psalmes and I am perswaded that for the same reason the blessed Virgine ioyned them together in her song when she sayd My soule magnifieth the Lord and my spirit reioyâ—eth in God my Sauiour Nowe as the Scripture vseth this distinction the better to expresse the faculties and powers of the soule so Saint Paul sometimes distinguisheth them into three that they may the better bee knowen as when hee writeth to the Ephesians in these woordes This I say therefore and testifie in the Lorde
the graue hee sheweth after very euidently what he vnderstandeth by his soule when he saieth Thou hast reuiued me from them that goe downe into the pit Hee taketh this worde Soule in the same sense when he saieth that God deliuered his soule from death and from the midst of lions and when he prayeth him to deliuer his soule from the sword his desolate soule from the power of the dogge For it is easie to iudge by these wordes that he taketh not the soule in these places for the essence of the soule and proper substance thereof because the soule can not be smitten with the sword nor deuoured of lions nor carried away by dogges Therefore seeing the soule is so often put in the Scripture for corporall life which endeth with the body and which the soule giueth vnto it by meanes of those instruments which it hath in the body the name of Spirite is many times vsed therein to signifie more specially this essence and spirituall substance which wee call the soule and which may be separated both from the body and blood as that which liueth after the death of the body Therefore Dauid did so vse the word Spirite when he recommended his soule to God by the same wordes which Iesus Christ vsed vpon the crosse Afterward Saint Steuen tooke it in the same sense when he saide Lorde Iesus receiue my spirite For this is that spirite of which Salomon saieth that it returneth to God that gaue it after that the body is returned to the earth and to dust of which it consisteth And yet this difference is not alwayes obserued in the Scriptures For as wee haue already heard both the heart and soule and spirite are oftentimes generally and indifferently put for all the partes and powers of the soule and not onely for those of men but also of beastes as when the Wise man attributeth spirit vnto them hauing regard to this corporall life For when Salomon speaketh so it is in consideration of this life that consisteth in breath which is also called Spirit in the holy Scriptures which vse one the same word to signifie both wind and breathing and whatsoeuer we call spirit taking it both for the soule of man for the Angelicall natures and for the Diuine nature Therefore Iob speaking of this present life sayth So long as my breath is in me and the spirit of God in my nosethrilles my lippes surely shall speake no wickednesse and my tongue shall vtter no deceit But when Saint Paul saieth The same spirite beareth witnesse with our spirite that wee are the children of God hee taketh the worde Spirite in an other sence then Iob did in the place nowe alleadged For in the first place hee taketh the name of Spirite for the Spirite of GOD and in the second place for the Spirite of man which signifieth the humane soule It is true that in this place hee taketh it for the soule and for the spirit such as it is in regenerate men but when hee saieth elsewhere that the spirite of man knoweth the things of man hee taketh the spirite simply for a humane Spirite and for the vnderstanding part thereof Likewise the name of soule is put not onely for this naturall life and for the will and affections but also for the selfe same thing that is comprehended by this worde Spirite when one woulde signifie thereby the greatest excellencie of the soule As when Dauid sayeth Our soule waiteth for the Lord for hee is our helpe and our shield Surely our heart shall reioyce in him because wee trusted in his holie name And againe My soule reioyceth in the Lorde and is glad in his saluation And when Saint Peter sayeth Abstaine from fleshly lustes which fight against the soule and haue your conuersation honest among the Gentiles hee taketh the name of Soule for the spirituall man who hath his minde and all his affections well ruled according to the will of GOD. As then wee haue heard in what sort the soule may die in regarde of this corporall life according to the phrase of the Scriptures and of the Hebrewes so by this which Saint Peter saieth that fleshly lustes fight against the soule wee may learne after what manner the soule may be said to die and to be slaine For nothing can bring death vnto it but sinne Wherefore it is not said without good reason in the Booke of Wisedome that the mouth that telleth lies slayeth the soule Albeit then the soule is immortall in that it can neuer be without life no more then the Angelles who are spirites like to it neuerthelesse it is after a sort mortall so farre forth as being farre off separated from God through sinne it liueth no more that blessed life wherewith it shoulde liue if it were vnited and ioyned vnto him by true faith and sincere obedience For it shoulde enioy the selfe same life which the heauenly Angelles with the soules and spirites of the blessed doe enioy As contrariwise the soules of the wicked liue with the same life that the Diuelles doe which is called dead because it is a more accursed life then death it selfe and therefore called the second and eternall death Nowe wee may thinke our selues sufficiently taught touching the diuerse significations in which the name of Soule is taken It seemeth to mee that wee haue spoken enough of the Anatomy of the bodie and soule of which the most of our discourses hitherto were made which may suffice for the contentation of euery one that will keepe himselfe within the bounds and limits set downe vnto vs by the wisedome of GOD in his word But to finish this whole matter concerning the soule which we haue chiefly considered in her parts powers and effects we are further yet to be instructed in the creation generation nature and immortalitie thereof And because they are marueilous difficult matters and such as are not without great contrarieties of opinions euen amongest the learned I am of opinion that these things are to be discoursed of according to that manner of teaching of the ancient Academickes which wee followed in our first meeting namely vpon the theame propounded vnto vs to ballance the arguments on the one part with the reasons of the other side that so we may diligently search out the trueth Notwithstanding it shal be lawfull for vs to deliuer our opinion so long as wee ground it vpon the infallible testimonie of the worde of God leauing to euery one his libertie to iudge which is best and to embrace and follow the same For our entrance therefore into so goodly a matter thou shalt beginne ASER to morrowe to declare vnto vs what thou shalt thinke good concerning this proposition namely whether the soule is begotten with the body and of the seede thereof or whether it be created apart and of another substance and what is requisit for vs to know therein The end of the
and what agreement is betweene them touching the soule of brute beasts and the nature and substance of it of their opinion that deriue the soule of man and the soule of beasts from one fountaine of them that ascend higher and of their reasons Chap. 82. AMANA That which wee read of Iesus Christ his saying to Nicodemus in these woordes If when I tell you earthly things yee beleeue not howe shoulde yee beleeue if I shall tell you of heauenly things may giue vs occasion to say in like maner that if wee can not knowe the earth neither the body and soule of man nor the nature and vertue thereof howe shoulde wee attaine to the knowledge of Heauen and of those spirituall natures of God and of his workes And if wee can not comprehend in our selues the woorkes of our soule howe shall wee vnderstand the woorkes of GOD in the whole world And if wee be not able to conceiue them doeth it followe therefore that hee doeth them not and yet there are many that conclude after that manner For they beleeue no more then they are able to knowe and comprehend by their naturall reason according as they deale also with their soule For because they vnderstand not what is the proper essence of it neither can see it after it is entred into the body and ioyned therewith nor yet when it departeth away therefore they conclude that it is no other thing but as it were a fire that lasteth so long as there is matter agreeable to the nature of it and is quenched when that faileth But for that which you deliuered to vs ASER of the sayings of certaine touching the diuerse kindes of soules and the powers of euery one of them it seemeth to mee that vnderstanding them as you say these men doe one of these three things will followe of their opinion For they must of necessitie yeelde to this either that the soule of man is partly immortall and partly mortall or that a man hath three soules one immortall and two mortall or lastly that the powers of the reasonable soule which wee call Sensitiue and Vegetatiue are not of the proper essence and substance thereof but onely of the body and that they are instruments of the reasonable soule as members thereof For I doubt not but they will readily confesse this that the soule is immortall and if that part of the soule which they call Vegetatiue and Sensitiue be of the selfe same essence and substance in that respect it shall be mortall Nowe if wee so distinguish all these three sortes of soules in man that wee make three kindes of them the first and principall shall be immortall and the other two mortall And if they will say that they take not the vegetatiue and sensitiue soule in man for two diuerse kindes of soules but onely for two sundry powers of the reasonable soule I demaund of them whether these two powers are so ioyned vnto it that it may be a soule as it is both without them and with them euen as before we said that it might be with the body and without the body I doubt not but euery one will answere mee to this question according to that opinion hee hath conceiued of the nature of mans soule If the question be made touching the soule of beastes the Philosophers agree well amongst themselues heerein that it is of the same matter of which their bodies are compounded whether it bee deriued and taken from the same or whether it bee the proprietie of the matter Therefore they meane that it is the Vitall spirite onely therein that giueth life vnto them which is of a corporall matter and substaunce or else that it is the temperature or temperament of the whole bodie generally which is the proprietie of that matter And so the soule in beastes shal be the life it selfe of which the Vitall spirites or the temperament are the instrumentes Which seemeth to agree well with that which Moses saieth That the soule of the flesh in the blood thereof that is to say the life according as we shewed when we spake of the nature of blood and of those meanes by which it giueth life to the creatures For when Moses speaketh so a man might say that it is as much in effect as if he saide that the blood is as it were the pipe and instrument that conueyeth life to the bodie and that the Vitall spirites are the thing that giueth motion sense to the bodie which is the same that we call Soule neither is there any inconuenience to yeelde to this in regard of the soule of beastes And albeeit wee see not with the eye howe these Vitall spirites or the temperament of all the partes of the bodie doe giue vnto it that life which it hath yet a man may iudge and haue some knowledge heereof by the things wee see in nature which haue some agreement and resemblance with this For we conceiue well howe the flame is nourished by the oyle and match that is in a lampe or by the waxe and weeke that is in a candle In which we see two sortes of matter differing one from another ioyned both together Besides we see how that by meanes of this coniunction and of the temperature and agreement that these two matters haue eache with other the flame being kindled in them is nourished and preserued So likewise we propound the Vitall spirite in the bodies of liuing creatures as a thinne flame engendered of the blood by vertue of the heart and this flyeth as it were throughout all the partes of the bodie distributing vnto it Vitall heate which quickeneth it and endueth it with that vertue by which it hath motion and sense and exerciseth all her actions so that euery member doeth his office Nowe we see well in this comparison the matter that is in the lampe or in the candle and the temperature and agreement that is betweene the partes of it and howe the flame is fedde and mainteyned after it is lighted Wee may see also from whence this flame is brought to the lampe and how this matter is lighted and that neither the matter nor the agreement and temperature thereof breede this flame of themselues but that it is brought from elsewhere In like manner we may easily conceiue that which hath beene told vs of the vitall spirite and of the blood whereof it is bredde and of the vertue and power of the heart in the generation of it But one may say vnto mee that there is great difference betweene the comparison we made of a lampe or candle and of his flame and betweene that which we haue spoken of the generation of the vitall spirite because this flame which we cal the vitall spirit springeth of the self-same matter by which it is nourished preserued is kindled there And therfore it were requisite that we should further knowe what is the cause of this as also why the life
recouery neither was any knowen that hath returned from the graue For we were borne at all aduenture and wee shall be heereafter as though wee had neuer beene for the breath is a smoke in the nosethrilles and the woordes as a sparke raised out of our hearts Which being extinguished the body is turned into ashes and the spirite vanisheth as the soft ayre Our life shall passe away as the trace of a cloude and come to naught as the mist that is driuen away with the beames of the Sunne and cast downe with the heate thereof Our name also shall be forgotten in time and no man shall haue our woorkes in remembrance For our time is as a shadowe that passeth away and after our ende there is no returning for it is fast sealed so that no man commeth againe Come therefore let vs enioy the pleasures that are present and let vs cheerfully vse the creatures as in youth Let vs fill our selues with costly wine ointments and let not the floure of life passe by vs. I omit other speeches of a voluptuous wicked vniust life which they purpose to lead exercising al iniustice violence cruelty without al regard had to any right or iustice either to poore or rich yong or old but chiefly against the seruants of God who approue not their kind of life but reproue condemne it Therefore it is said after al the discourse that they imagined such things and went astray For their owne wickednes blinded them They do not vnderstand the mysteries of God neither hope for the reward of righteousnes nor can discerne the honor of the soules that are faultlesse For God created man without corruption and made him after the image of his owne likenesse Neuerthelesse through enuy of the deuill came death into the world and they that hold of his side proue it But the soules of the righteous are in the hands of God and no torment shall touch them In the sight of the vnwise they appeared to die and their end was thought grieuous and their departing from vs destruction but they are in peace Wee see then that these men go no farther then they can see with their bodily senses and because they see that man liueth by breathing and cannot liue without and that hee dyeth when his breath faileth they thinke that the soule of man is but a litle winde and breath and so is scattered and vanisheth away as it were winde and breath or as a cloude in the ayre The same iudgement they are of in regard of the blood because life leaueth the body with the blood as if it had no other soule but the blood or breath And forasmuch as the eye discerneth no difference betweene men and beasts in death they iudge also that there is no difference betweene their soules But if they be resolued to giue credit to nothing but to their corporall senses and in death consider only what difference there is betweene men and beasts they wil not beleeue that either beasts or men haue any soule at all that giueth them life because they see nothing but the body onely And then by the like reason we must conclude that not onely the whole man is no other thing but this body which we see but also that there is nothing in all the world but that which may bee seene by the eyes and perceiued by the other senses and so all that which we haue not seene and knowen by them shal be nothing Which being so men shal differ nothing from beasts as indeed we can say no better of these men For beastes thinke of nothing but that which they beholde and perceiue by their senses and goe no further which is so farre from all science and discipline and from all iudgement of man as nothing can be more Therefore they that beleeue nothing but their corporall senses deserue to be compared not onely to little children or to fooles who when they see pictures or their face in a glasse suppose they are liuing men because they goe no farther then they see but euen to the brute beastes who haue lesse sense and vnderstanding then children It is woonderfull to consider howe men take such great pleasure paines to become brutish For if they doe but see a smoke come out of a place they will iudge that there is some fire within although they behold it not and if they smell any ill sauour their nose will tell them that there is some place infected or some carion lying not farre off albeit they see it not What is the cause then that when by their senses they perceiue somewhat more in men then in beastes they are not induced thereby to thinke that of necessitie there must be some what within them which causeth them to differ much from beasts Which is not by reason of the bodie but of the soule that is not seene but onely by her actions workes and effects Whereupon it followeth that if their actions differ from the actions of that soule whereby beastes liue the cause also from which they proceed must needes differ and so consequently that there is great difference betwixt the soule of men and the soule of beastes For let them consider onely the diuersitie of artes which man exerciseth with his hands and the varietie of so many wittie and woonderfull workes as are wrought by him which cannot proceede but from a great spirite and from a passing excellent nature the like whereof is not to bee seene in beastes or in anie thing they can doe Besides doe they not see how the spirite of man discourseth throughout all nature what reason is in him and howe his speech followeth reason which are such things as haue a certaine vertue and the image of a diuine spirite shining in them Wherefore albeeit wee shoulde make man wholly like to a beast by reason of his bodie both in regarde of his birth and death yet wee must needes confesse that hee is of a farre more excellent nature in respect of that great and manifest difference which wee see is in his soule If then the soule of man bee mortall as well as that of beastes to what purpose serue those graces which it hath aboue the other and from what fountaine shall wee say they flowe in it and to what ende were they giuen vnto it But for this time I will leaue these Atheists hoping that to morowe wee will not leaue any one naturall reason able to vrge them in their demnable opinion which shal not bee laide out at large And I demaund of them that haue anie taste of the holy Scriptures and yet seeme to doubt of the immortalitie of the soule or at leastwise are not fully resolued therein howe man is said to be created after the image of God if he shall be altogether dissolued and brought to nothing and where shall we then seeke for this image in him It is certaine that this is not in
and vnchangeable Incredulitie contrary to beleefe and opinion Of the diuers acceptions of this word Beleefe or Faith The description of Faith It is good for a man to knowe his owne ignorance 1. Cor. 2. 14. Foure meanes to knowe certainely those things that are to be beleeued Of generall experience Of the knowledge of principles Of the naturall knowledge of God in men The vse both of the naturall and of the written law Of natural iudgement Of the fourth meane of knowledge Hebr. 11. Of the image of God in man Ephes 4. 24. The difference betwixt soule and spirite Matth. 10. 39. rom 13. 1. Esay 40. 5 6. Iuc 3. 6. Rom. 8. 6. Genes 1. How God proceedeth in the creation of his workes How the powers of the soule manifest themselues How they haue their degrees in growth Luke 1. 80. The difference betwixt reason and iudgement and contemplation Why some haue preferred Philosophie before riches Of the benefits that commeth by the contemplation of diuine things Of the contemplation that is after this life When all men shall be of one iudgement The actiue life must be ioyned with the contemplaiue The obiect of the will is as large as that of the mind What great confusion is in our corrupt nature Of the desires that are in creatures Three kindes of appetites Of the Naturall appetite Of hunger and thirst Two kindes of Sense Of the seate of the naturall appetite Of the sensitiue appetite kinds thereof The vse of the sinewes Of the affections The ende of knowledge The best thingsin beasts are sensuall Beasts haue no Will. Matth. 5. From whence the desires of all creatures ought to be deriued What Will is and how it worketh How reason is set ouer the Will Diuers acceptions of the words Reason Will Psal 115. Matth. 6. The Will is the chiefest appetiteâ— The Wil aymeth alwaies at good The Will is free and vnconstrayned Of the image of God in the Will Good is alwayes the obiect of the Will Diuers degrees in the actions of Will How the Wâ— coÌ„mandeth the appetite The difference betwixt the natural and regenerated man What is the chief good that meere naturall men seeke after What good men are taught to ayme at by the heauenly light How we must cary our selues both in prosperity and aduersity Of the frailety of mans estate Of the power of the Will in all actions Why men preferre earthly things before heauenly Will sometime reiecteth all counsaile What freedome the Will hath in outward actions The neere coniunction of Reason and Will Euâ—â— spirites haue power ouer the Will The difference of mans obedience to God from that of other creatures Difference betwixt Knowledge and Affections Of the discord betweene the heart and the braine A comparison Rom. 1. 18. verse 21. How the Scripture taketh the word heart Matth. 22. 40. Of the agreement that ought to be betweene the minde and the heart Why the heart is taken sometime for the seate of reason Deut 29 4. Matth. 22. 37. 1. King 3. 12. Rom. 1. 24 25. Pleasure of it owne nature a gift of God The end of mans creation Of the second belly of the body Ezech. 27. 4. ionas 2. 4. matth 12. 40. Of the midriffe and of his vse Of the skinnes of the breast and of their vse Of the cawle of the heart Of the fashion of the heart Of the water in the cawle of the heart Of the office of the heart Of the lungs and of their vse How the lungs couer the heart How the heart agreeth with the heauens Of the arteries and their office How the vitall spirites agree with the aire and windes Of the double motion of the heart and the vses thereof An admonition to mutuall loue 1. Iohn 3. 20. Whereof the striking of the breast arose Of the substance of the heart The situation of the heart Of the counterpoize of the heart A good lesson for euery one Deuter. 5. ezech 20. Of the two voide places in the heart and of their vse What the vitall spirite is Of the great artery Aâ—example of â—utuall succour Of the veiny â—â—â—ery Of the doores and pipes of the heart Goodly instructions for al men Moderation is 〈◊〉 be kept in all things Superfluitie to be auoided in all things Good counsell for Princes Man was created not onely to be but also to be well What the affections are Two kindes of affections What affections goe before iudgement Agreement betweene the temperature of the body and the affections of the soule The affections can doe much with the body â—oy good for the body and Griefe hurtful to it How the agreement betweene the body and the soule may be discerned Naturall qualities breede diseases Men are more carefull for the health of their bodies then of their soules The affections breed the health or sicknes of the soule How the soule receiueth from the body in regard of the diuers temperatures thereof Agreement betweene corporall and spirituall Physicke Luke 21. 34. Rom. 13. 3. Ephes 5. 18. Act. 13. 2. Iudge 20. 26. Psal 69. 10. Esth 4. 16. The knowledge of physicke necessary for all Sinne is the cause of all disorder discases and of death Three things to be considered in the facultie of Knowledge How habâ—tes are bred in the minde Foure things to be considered in the Will and desires Of natural inâ—linations and affections Rom. 1. 30. 2. Tim. 3. 3. Leuit. 19. 18. matth 5. 43. Of the vâ—â—â—lines of our naturall affections 2. Tim. 3. 2. Rom. 1. Of true loue towards a manâ— selfe towardâ— his Gen. 22. Naturall inclinations are seeds of vertues or vices The originall of all diseases What a habite is Of the force of custome Sweat is Gentleman-vsher to vertue The cause and profite of an habite What affection is froÌ„ whence vertue and vice first spring The fountaine of morall philosophie Why the affections are giuen to the soule The affections compared to the windes Of commotions perturbations How 〈◊〉 the iudgement can preuaile ouer the affections The originall of violent motionâ— in the soule A similitude shewing the perilous motions of of the soule The effects of a prudent and wise man Of the variety of affections The cause of all motions in the â—oule Two kindes of punishments Of the generation nature and kindes of the afâ—ections How the affections are bred or brideled one of another Goodly similitudes The first motion of the heart is an image of the second Griefe or Ioy in all the affections Ioy appeareth in the face The effects of laughter in the face 2. Cor. 6. 11 12 What is meant by bowels in the Scripture 1. King 3. 26. Col. 3. 12 13 14. The true workes of a Christian 1. Ioh. 3. 17 18. Isay 58. 10. What ioy is How the heart chuseth euil for good What sorrow is Of melancholy The effect of sorrowe A commendable vse of teares Rom. 12. 15. A comparison Psa 34. 8 9 10. Vers 19. 21.